The thought sounds absurd: diesel-powered Ford Thunderbirds roaming the streets of Munich underneath BMW supervision. However at a sure level within the Nineteen Seventies, that unlikely premise apparently turned actuality. Much more unlikely, the accountable social gathering is none aside from BMW Motorsport — maybe the final group you’ll relate to diesel energy. Relying on the way you take a look at it, the sequence of unlikely pairings had all of the eccentricities of greatness or markings of a flop. However both method, it’s an origin story explaining how a BMW diesel engine discovered its method into an American luxurious coupe.
An American in Munich
You may not know the identify Burkhard Goeschal. However he’s not less than a part of the explanation for a fleet of Ford Thunderbirds descending on Munich someday within the Nineteen Seventies. In keeping with him, Ford contracted BMW Motorsport to “check and validate Steyr-sourced diesel engines.” Logically, this meant BMW Motorsport wanted to put in diesel engines in automobiles with Ford badges. Apparently, Motorsport was in no situation financially to show away the request — albeit seemingly very removed from what the Motorsport division is finest at. The settlement led to a flock of Ford Thunderbirds cropping up in Munich as check vehicles.
But it surely most likely wasn’t the wild and winged Fifties and Sixties period Thunderbirds cruising by means of the streets of Munich. Do not forget that Goeschal didn’t begin at BMW till January 1978. That locations the Ford Thunderbird not less than in its seventh era. In contrast to the vehicles previous it, the seventh-gen Thunderbird was smaller and prioritized gasoline effectivity. In fact, these traits have been whole byproducts of the continued oil disaster. Nevertheless, the check vehicles have been nearly definitely early and even pre-production ninth era fashions, for an excellent, ostensibly unrelated cause: the Lincoln Mark VII.
The Thunderbird Diesel: The place It Ended Up
The Lincoln Mark VII debuted because the Lincoln Continental Mark VII in 1983. The Mark VII got here with solely two engine decisions: a 5.0-liter V8 making as much as 225 horsepower and a BMW M21 diesel engine. Underpinning the Mark VII was the identical Ford Fox platform behind the modern Mustang, Mercury Cougar, and sure — the ninth-gen Ford Thunderbird. Whereas the Ford Thunderbird by no means obtained a diesel engine, roughly 2,300 Lincoln Mark VIIs shipped with the diesel. With BMW energy and a ZF-sourced automated — slightly than the four-speed Ford trans backing the 5.0-liter — it’s nearly sure the Thunderbirds in Munich later turned the Lincoln Mark VII.
Moreover, describing the M21 as a “Steyr diesel” additionally is sensible. Within the Nineteen Seventies, BMW got down to develop an engine that mixed sturdy efficiency with improved gasoline economic system. As you may need guessed, one other direct response to the oil disaster. Growth formally started in 1975, with crew of BMW engineers utilizing the M20 gasoline engine as a basis. By the point the engine reached manufacturing, its designation had been finalized because the M21. From the outset, BMW supposed the Steyr engine plant to be the unique manufacturing facility for the brand new diesel. The plant was established as a three way partnership with Steyr-Daimler-Puch in 1978, earlier than BMW assumed full management in February 1982. Early manufacturing at Steyr initially centered on six-cylinder gasoline engines, with diesel manufacturing ramping up quickly after.
The BMW-Ford Diesel Loop Closes
In 1983, Ford introduced plans to buy as many as 190,000 BMW turbodiesel engines over a number of years. Nevertheless, the speedy collapse of the American diesel market within the early Nineteen Eighties curtailed these ambitions. The Lincoln Mark VII is the one factor to indicate for it 40 years later. Because of Steve Saxty for the supply quote from Dr. Goeschal. Whilst you received’t discover this story in his glorious BMW books, we nonetheless suggest you decide up a set for your self.
