Editing Straight-eight engine (section)

==Inter-war period (1919–1941)==

===Luxury automobiles===
[[File:Model J engine.JPG|thumb|upright=1.14|[[Dual overhead camshaft]] [[Duesenberg#Model J (1928–1937)| Duesenberg Model J]] engine]]

Italy's [[Isotta Fraschini]] introduced the first production automobile straight-eight in their [[Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8|Tipo 8]] at the Paris Salon in 1919<ref name="VVC70">{{cite book| last = Posthumus| first = Cyril| author-link = Cyril Posthumus| others = John Wood, illustrator| title = The story of Veteran & Vintage Cars| edition = Phoebus 1977| orig-year = 1977| year = 1977| publisher = Hamlyn / Phoebus| location = London| isbn = 0-600-39155-8| page = 70| chapter = War and Peace}}</ref>  [[Leyland Motors]] introduced their [[overhead camshaft|OHC]] straight-eight powered [[Leyland Eight]] luxury car at the [[British International Motor Show|International Motor Exhibition]] at [[Olympia, London]] in 1920.<ref name= WelshMotorSport>[[#Davies|Welsh Motor Sport - Cars]]</ref><ref name=HistomobileLeyland>[[#van Damme|Histomobile: Leyland - 1920s]]</ref> The [[Duesenberg]] brothers introduced their first production straight-eight in 1921.<ref name="Daniels">{{cite book|last=Daniels|first=Jeff|title=Driving Force: The Evolution of the Car Engine|publisher =Haynes Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=1-85960-877-9}}
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Straight-eight engines were used in expensive luxury and performance vehicles until after World War II. [[Bugatti]]s and Duesenbergs commonly used [[DOHC|double overhead cam]] straight-eight engines. Other notable straight-eight-powered automobiles were built by [[Daimler Straight-Eight engines|Daimler]], [[Mercedes-Benz]], [[Isotta Fraschini]], [[Alfa Romeo]], [[Stutz Motor Company|Stutz]], [[Stearns-Knight]] and [[Packard]]. One marketing feature of these engines was their impressive length — some of the Duesenberg engines were over {{convert|4|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} long, resulting in the long hoods (bonnets) found on these automobiles.

===Premium automobiles in the United States===
In the United States in the 1920s, automobile manufacturers, including [[Hupmobile]] (1925), [[Chandler Motor Car|Chandler]] (1926), [[Marmon Motor Car Company|Marmon]] (1927), [[Gardner (automobile)|Gardner]] (1925), Kissel (1925), Locomobile (1925) and [[Auburn Automobile|Auburn]] (1925) began using straight-eight engines in cars targeted at the middle class. Engine manufacturer [[Lycoming Engines|Lycoming]] built straight-eight engines for sale to automobile manufacturers, including Gardner, Auburn, Kissel, and [[Locomobile Company of America|Locomobile]]. Hupmobile built their own engine. Lycoming was purchased by Auburn owner [[Errett Lobban Cord]], who used a Lycoming straight-eight in his front-drive [[Cord (automobile)|Cord]] L-29 automobile,<ref name="Wise1">Wise, David Burgess. "Cord: The Apex of a Triangle", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 4, pp.435-436.</ref> and had Lycoming build the straight-eight engine for the Duesenberg [[Duesenberg Model J|Model J]], which had been designed by the Duesenberg brothers for the Cord-owned Duesenberg Inc.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4-T0gmBqH0C&q=Vintage%20Cars%20%20Craig%20Cheetham&pg=PA73 |title= Vintage Cars|last=Cheetham|first= Craig|year= 2004|page= 73 |publisher= Motorbooks|access-date= 2010-11-23|isbn= 9780760325728}}</ref> The automobile manufacturers within the Cord Corporation, comprising Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg, were shut down in 1937. [[Lycoming Engines|Lycoming]] continues to this day as an aircraft engine manufacturer.

[[File:Oldsmobile Straight 8.jpg|thumb|[[REO Motor Car Company|REO]] [[straight eight|Straight 8]] from 1931-1934]]In the late 1920s, volume sellers [[Hudson (automobile)|Hudson]] and [[Studebaker]] introduced straight-eight engines for the premium vehicles in their respective lines. They were followed in the early 1930s by [[Nash (automobile)|Nash]] (with a dual-ignition unit), [[REO Motor Car Company|REO]], and the [[Buick]], [[Oldsmobile]], and [[Pontiac (automobile)|Pontiac]] divisions of [[General Motors]].

The [[Buick Straight-8 engine|Buick straight-eight]] was an [[overhead valve]] design, while the [[Oldsmobile Straight-8 engine|Oldsmobile straight-8]] and [[Pontiac Straight-8 engine|Pontiac straight-8]] straight-eights were [[flathead engine]]s. Chevrolet, as an entry-level marque, did not have a straight-eight. Cadillac, the luxury brand of General Motors, stayed with their traditional V8 engines. In order to have engines as smooth as the straight-eights of its competitors, Cadillac introduced the [[crossplane]] crankshaft for its [[Cadillac V8 engine|V8]], and added [[V12 engine|V12]] and [[V16 engine]]s to the top of its lineup.

[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] never adopted the straight-eight; their entry-level Ford cars used [[Ford flathead V8|flathead V8]] engines until the 1950s while their [[Lincoln (automobile)|Lincoln]] luxury cars used V8 from the 1930s to the 1980s and V12 engines in the 1930s and 1940s. [[Chrysler]] used  flathead straight-eights in its premium Chrysler cars, including the Imperial luxury model.

===Airships===
The British [[R101]] rigid [[airship]] was fitted with five [[Beardmore Tornado]] Mk I inline eight-cylinder diesel engines. These engines were intended to give an output of {{convert|700|bhp|kW|-1|abbr=on}} at 1,000 rpm but in practice had a continuous output rating of only {{convert|585|bhp|kW|0|abbr=on}} at 900 rpm.<ref name="norfolkancestors.org">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091109035356/http://www.norfolkancestors.org/boulton/r101.htm "Boulton and Paul - the R101."]}} ''norfolkancestors.org.'' Retrieved: 27 August 2010.</ref>