Ford Pinto engine
It was used in many European Ford cars and was exported to the United States to be used in the Ford Pinto, a successful subcompact car of the 1970s, hence the name which is used most often for the unit. In Britain, it is commonly used in many kit cars and hot rods, especially in the 2 litre size.
American automobile industry in the 1950s
Ford used its V8 flathead engine in most of its line up through the beginning of the decade, even as it introduced the Ford Y-block engine and the similar but larger Lincoln Y-block V8 engine in 1952 for its luxury car lines. These were soon phased out with the Ford Windsor engine in 1962, which still forms the basis for the current engine line. The Lincoln Y-block 317 cubic inch motor was rated at 160 hp, only slightly higher than the 336 cubic inch "Invincible 8" flathead design that it replaced. The Lincoln also came in 341 and 368 cubic inch displacement (CID) versions. Like the GM motor, it used an overhead-valve design rather than the inblock-valve design shared by all flathead engines.