Tadek Marek was a Polish engineer who, despite almost missing out on the job at Aston Martin because of a rejection letter being posted out as a mistake, deserves much of the credit for the creation of Aston Martin’s legendary DB cars. The all-new inline-six he worked on within the mid Fifties helped turn these cars into icons and was an enormous improvement — when it comes to each performance and reliability — over the engine that got here before it. The Tadek Marek aluminum inline-six went on to power the DB4, DB5, and DB6, plus the DBS, with a production span that ran well into the Seventies.
Marek’s journey with the storied British automaker begins within the Fifties. Marek wasn’t initially hired to start work on an exciting latest engine, but as a substitute to coerce every last drop of usefulness from the DB2’s Bentley-designed W.O. engine that he could for the brand new DB Mark III. The inline-six had been making rounds at Aston Martin for a while by this point, however it was tormented by various reliability issues, which Marek solved while introducing a welcome dose of additional horsepower for the then-new Mark III. But by this point, Aston had relied on the W.O. Bentley inline-six for so long as it possibly could. The firm needed a brand new engine to enter the swinging sixties, and Marek was the person for the job.
Marek’s inline-six was a brand new engine for a brand new era
Work on the brand new engine, designed for the then-new DB4, began in 1955. It was an all-aluminum dual overhead cam inline-six, with a compression of 8.25:1. It initially boasted a 3.7-liter displacement and packed 240 horsepower, with fuel delivered via a pair of SU HD8 carburetors — a transparent step up compared to the 162 horses available within the old DB Mark III. Early iterations of Marek’s inline-six weren’t without issue, though. This was the primary mill he’d designed from aluminum, and as a consequence of his inexperience, clearances could expand when the engines were run over long distances repeatedly, causing low oil pressure. This wasn’t the one issue either — early cars would also overheat, which resulted in bearing failures.
Marek and Aston Martin worked to beat these issues because the cars and the engine developed. The sump was modified to permit for a bigger oil capability, and an oil cooler was fitted for Series 2 cars onward. During 1961, and the DB4’s fourth series, a Vantage model was made available. It sported a uniquely styled hood scoop, a reworked inlet manifold with latest boxed-plenum chamber, greater valves, a better 9:1 compression, and an additional carburetor, which saw output climb by an additional 26 horses. The final word iteration of the three.7-liter engine got here with the DB4 GT, which sported two spark plugs per cylinder, a trio of Weber carburetors this time, high-lift cams, and an output that climbed past 300 hp, along with 270 lb-ft of torque.
How Marek’s inline-six evolved within the DB5 and DB6
The Aston Martin DB5 debuted in 1963, and while it visually shared much in common with the latter run of DB4s, things had actually modified under the hood. Marek’s inline-six had seen its displacement increased from 3.7 to 4.0 liters, with output climbing to 282 horsepower, alongside 288 lb-ft of torque. It wasn’t long before a Vantage model was also introduced to the DB5 range, which saw output soar to 325 horsepower — once more courtesy of some hot cams and more meaningful carburetors. On this guise, Marek’s “six” was able to propelling the DB5 Vantage to speeds north of 150 mph, and to 60 mph in only 6.5 seconds.
Marek’s mechanicals remained unchanged within the DB6 that got here next, although buyers of later cars had the selection to swap the carbs for a fuel-injection system — not that it proved to be a well-liked option in any respect. The Aston Martin DB6’s production ended after 1970, although this would not be the top of Marek’s engineering influence. His inline-six continued on within the DBS, which debuted in 1967 and ran alongside the DB6 for some time. It was originally designed to take motivation from an all-new V8 engine – one other impressive Marek design that will motivate Aston models for a lot of many years — however the V8 wasn’t ready in time. It will definitely arrived in 1969, and each the six- and eight-cylinder DBSs sold alongside each other, until the model was discontinued in 1972.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
