"215" History
 
The Buick/Olds/Rover 215 cubic-inch (3.5 liters) aluminum V8, prototype in the late 50's, was originally announced in 1960 as a potential lightweight economy engine destined for GM's new line of compacts: Buick Skylark, Olds Cutlass and Pontiac Tempest. It first appeared in the 1961 model year and production ended in 1963 after over 3/4 million engines were produced. Two versions were made, Buick's and the Oldmobile's, having different heads, valve trains and valve covers. Pontiac used the Olds version.

The reason production ended so soon was a high rejection rate during the casting process, as GM utilized pressure casting of the Reynolds 356 aluminum alloy around steel sleeves. The assembly was then heat-treated to T-6 condition; but the heat treating caused the steel sleeves to shift and thus forced the rejection of many entire blocks.

Eventually, GM cured the casting maladies, but the advent of new thin-wall iron casting techniques soon rendered the aluminum motor too expensive. General Motors quickly adapted the V8's architecture to cast-iron, lopping off two cylinders to create the workhorse Buick V-6. And in 1965, negotiated production rights with the British Rover Cars company. Rover, seeing the motor as its salvation for an aging product line, found that sand casting the block and installing the sleeves at a later point precluded any production problems. The engine went on to power the ancient P5 Rover sedan, then the modern 3500 (a transplant into the 2000 TC), and finally the legendary Range Rover. It continues to power Land Rover products today in 4. & 4.6 liter versions.

The first company to realize the 215's performance potential was the exotic Apollo GT, a Ferrari-like sports car styled in America and built in Italy. Only 88 cars were sold before the company went under. The engine also found favor among European racing teams, powering several sports-racing cars (including the original McLaren), and in Repco-modified Olds form, propelling Sir Jack Brabham to two world Formula One championships in the mid 1960s (certainly NOT your father's Oldsmobile!). In 1969, the tiny Morgan company rejuvenated its archaic 1930's-era sports car by installing the Rover V8. Zero-to-60 times of six seconds and better were common...

After the rights to the Buick version of the 215 were purchased,  Rover engineers went on refining production techniques. Rover began installing a much improved version of the 215 in the ancient P5 Saloon (sedan) in 1967. The same motor was installed in the more modern P6 2000 to create the 3500 (3500 cc or 3.5 liters). It soon found its way into the new Range Rover of the 1970s.

A 3947 cc unit (created by increasing the bore to 94 mm) appeared in 1990 in the Range Rover, and later in the 1993 Discovery. A 4.2 liter motor soon appeared as the result of a longer-stroke crankshaft. In 1995, Rover launched the 4.0L & 4.6L engines, using an even longer-stroke crank and a re-engineering block with cross-bolted main caps.

Components for early engines are virtually interchangeable with the 215.

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