EDITORIAL
W
hile I would never want to hamper progress when it comes to engines, engineering advances often have a canny effect of stripping away character. Find me a simple engine, designed on a draughtsman’ s table and perfected by hand, with all of the quirks and errors that it creates, and I’ ll show you an engine with personality. Perhaps not the greatest engine, but one that you can’ t help but love.
Character doesn’ t translate to drivability or ease of use. Character doesn’ t make for efficient engines or reliable ones. Character doesn’ t add power and torque. And to most people, a characterful engine doesn’ t sell cars. So it ' s not an enduring attribute. And, as it ' s really born out of mistakes and compromises, it ' s certainly not one that any engineer would purposefully instil within an engine.
There was a time when new tech added character. The unpredictable power delivery that turbochargers created, the vocal key change when a Honda VTech system switched to its big cam.
We’ re in an era where new engines, even the most powerful and spectacular, after the assault of constant development, have been refined into items to be revered and respected, but aren’ t all that memorable. They’ re engineering marvels, but it’ ll be the lumpy idles of cammy engines, the coughing, gulping carburettors, and sudden turbo boost that I’ ll truly remember. Will Beaumont
SPRING 2026 THEENGINEREBUILDER. COM
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Spring 2026 The Engine Rebuilder
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