Writer’s block: Autocar's favourite car engines

Felix Page - PSA Group XUD

It looks out of place in such esteemed company, this humble diesel fourbanger, but allow me to explain. The XUD found its way into everything from the Citroën BX to the Lada Niva and remains revered even several decades since its launch for its relative balance of frugality, punchiness and refinement – boxes that few diesels of its era managed to simultaneously tick. My old Peugeot 405 GTX Estate featured a (thankfully turbocharged) 1.9-litre variant of the XUD, and while the rest of the car fell apart around it, the motor remained crisp, responsive and smooth even with 200,000 miles on the clock. Around the car’s 25th birthday, in fact, it ferried me, four passengers and a ton of luggage 800 miles to the south of France and back again without so much as a cough. And it averaged just over 50mpg. Plus, it can run on vegetable oil. Try that with your Colombo V12.

Steve Cropley - BMC A-series

Arriving in the 1951 Austin A30 and lasting until 2000 in the Mini, being made in many capacities from 803cc to 1275cc, the BMC A-series helped put Britain on wheels. It was a simple, iron-block, overhead-valve, pushrod lump that was cheap to make and tweak to power cars as disparate as the Mini Cooper S and Austin-Healey Sprite. I enjoyed how it drove, bursting to life on half a turn as if just awaiting the chance. It seemed to make more low-end torque than was claimed but was reluctant to rev without help from ‘hot bits’.

James Ruppert - BMW M20

Building the M20 specifically to fit the E21 3 Series was a masterstroke. Instead of shoehorning in the big M30, here was a smaller, lighter and lovelier six-cylinder unit. Rather than making the car front-heavy, here was a bespoke unit that helped expand BMW from enthusiasts to the mainstream. It sounded superb, with a proper turbine whine when wound up. The M20 will do 250,000 miles with regular belt changes. Never mind the sublime low-revving, emissions-friendly Eta version, and it’s quicker than the 635’s six-pot.

Matt Saunders - Chevrolet LS

The LS-generation small-block V8, in its many, varied and wonderful forms, is something else. In my experience, it has elevated otherwise ordinary sports cars to a higher level for driver appeal (the Marcos TSO springs to mind); provided ample muscle for modern hot rods as different as the Chevrolet Camaro and hotter Vauxhall VXR8s; dealt a little in richness and refinement in a restomodded Jensen Interceptor; and even outpointed the latest turbo V8s from BMW and Mercedes-AMG for genuine bleedingheart charisma in Cadillac’s CTS-V super-saloon. Somehow, the LS always dominates any car in which it features, and that’s a wonderful thing. I’ve never not enjoyed a moment in its company. More importantly, no engine has been more versatile, used more widely or done more for the affordable and usable performance car over the past 50 years.

Tom Morgan - Bentley W12

The distant warble of a 12-cylinder motor is undeniably luxurious regardless of the configuration, but I have a real soft spot for the supreme smoothness of Bentley’s four-bank W. The twin-turbo version delivers almost train-like torque from low revs yet does so in a refined and delightfully unstressed manner that perfectly suits the long-distance cruiser that is the Continental GT. An impressive evolution for a motor that began life destined for the ill-fated Volkswagen Phaeton.