Plastic automotive engine
Version one was based on Ford's 2.3-liter Pinto engine and weighed (vs. for its cast iron counterpart). It was designed to produce at 9200 rpm. It was composed of metal cylinder sleeves, metal combustion chamber tops, metal piston crowns, bearings, valves and seats, and a stock 2.3L Pinto crankshaft. Nearly everything else in the engine, including the block, rods and piston skirts, were made of glass reinforced Polyamide-imide thermoplastic resins manufactured at the time by Amoco Chemicals Co. The engine was never installed in a vehicle.
Ford Pinto engine
In the beginning of the 1980s, Cosworth developed a 16-valve performance head conversion for the Pinto engine. This was seen by a Ford executive who asked Cosworth to develop it with a turbo for use in the new Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.
The engine is therefore based on a modified Pinto block topped with the Cosworth-developed alloy head and Garrett turbo.