Yes, you read that right. The same Rambler run by the miserly George Romney (father of Mitt) was building cars that were somehow simultaneously outdated and on the leading edge of development in the mid-to-late 1950s. Up until 1956, Rambler was known for very inexpensive, low-tech automobiles, equipped with lazy (but reliable) flathead inline six motors. To put things in perspective, by 1955, Ford and Chevrolet each had a line of overhead valve V-8 engines making between 110-180 horsepower that could be had in a car with similar appointments to a Rambler Rebel for just under $2000. Meanwhile the Rambler 196ci flathead inline-six struggled to break the triple-digit horsepower mark.
However, by 1956, Rambler had done some catching up, introducing their own 250ci OHV V8 midway through the model year and planning a larger 327ci V-8 engine (no relation to the later Chevrolet engine of the same displacement) for 1957 that was going to make 255 horsepower with a 4-barrel carburetor. And then they were going to give it optional electronic fuel injection–in 1957! Sure, Mercedes-Benz had Bosch mechanical fuel injection on their 300SL by 1954, and Chevrolet had introduced their Rochester Ramjet system in 1956, but these were mechanical systems, similar (but by no means identical) to what you might have seen on a diesel engine a decade or two later. These mechanical injection systems, however, were often more trouble than they were worth, plagued by vacuum leaks, fuel leaks, fuel boiling, and poor cranking signal upon startup. And to be frank, other than the modest power gains, they had little advantage over one or two 4 barrel carburetors. Additionally, like a carburetor, these systems required seasonal tuning, but were far more complex and adjustments were generally outside the scope of the typical car owner.
Enter the 1957 Rambler Rebel 327 with optional Bendix Electrojector Electronic Fuel Injection. While complicated in concept for 1957, the execution was remarkably simple. Electrojector required more additional parts than a mechanical injection system, but those extra parts were surprisingly simple. All Electrojector needed was an electric fuel pump to put out 20psi (which was already well developed by the aerospace industry), a fuel rail, injectors, a special distributor with a second set of pickups to engage the injectors, and an electronic modulator with sensors for vacuum, atmospheric pressure, and temperature to help the modulator understand exactly how much fuel each cylinder needed. This had a number of benefits over GM’s Rochester system. Electrojector had some vacuum input, but was not vacuum driven so vacuum leaks were less likely, and frankly, less of an issue than with existing mechanical fuel injection systems. The Bendix system metered out fuel per cylinder, rather than to the engine as a whole, as did a Ramjet, or a carburetor, for that matter. The fuel pump could be moronically straightforward–it only had to create 20psi of constant fuel pressure and was not responsible for metering fuel like the complicated mechanical pumps of mechanical injection systems. Rather, metering was carried out solely by the injectors (one-per-cylinder I might remind you) that opened based off of an electrical pickup on the distributor, and closed based on a signal from the electrical modulator (think of it as an early computer) based on RPM, atmospheric pressure, and temperature that determined the duration of fuel injection per cylinder cycle.
While total numbers are fuzzy, and officially zero were ever produced, it is best accepted that Rambler came up with 6 prototypes for internal testing, media testing, and the autoshow circuit. And these six cars were wildly successful, all things considered. With the Bendix EFI, the Rambler 327 made 288 horsepower–once again, in 1957. In Motor Trend’s testing of one of the EFI Rambler Rebel press cars–a 4-door sedan, mind you, they reported it to be faster from a standing start than a mechanically injected Corvette. This would have made lil’ ol’ boring Rambler the manufacturer of the fastest production car in America in 1957. A four-door, steel bodied family sedan that was only one year removed from flathead-only powerplants was faster than a 2 seater, mechanically fuel injected 283ci, fiberglass Corvette. Besides the power increase, Rambler also boasted increased fuel economy and engine longevity. Had the engine made it to full production these assertions would have no doubt been confirmed. Injection on a per-cylinder basis means that each cylinder receives only the fuel it needs–no more, no less, in comparison to a carbureted or Ramjet equipped vehicle, which poured enough fuel into the intake for all 8 cylinders, with the cylinders farthest from the intake plenum running more lean, and the cylinders closest to the intake plenum running much richer. From a longevity standpoint, electronic fuel injection substantially reduces cylinder washing upon startup. With a carburetor, large amounts of fuel must be dumped into the cylinders in order to start the vehicle. This fuel washes the oil film off of the cylinder walls, increasing wear in the cylinder until oil makes its way back to the cylinder wall as the engine warms up. Eliminating this means your piston rings last magnitudes longer, and cylinder walls retain factory cross hatching much better over time, extending intervals between rebuilds and machine work.
Sounds great! Where do I get one? Well, you don’t. Rambler’s prophetic EFI system never made it into a Rambler dealership. At only a $395 option, cost was decidedly not likely to be a contributing factor to failure. Supply, however, was. Originally the Bendix system was only going to be available beginning mid-year 1957, owing to supplier issues. One can only assume that these worsened to the point of this project being scrapped altogether. Anecdotes and reports from the time also suggest that the Electrojector system was quite hard-starting in cold weather. Personally, I think that Rambler saw a modulator box that was too complicated for them to manufacture on their own, and when supply issues began they scrapped the project altogether to refocus on building simple, affordable family cars as had always been the Nash-Rambler-AMC philosophy. Rambler still produced 1,500 327 V-8 Rebels in 1957, albeit all with a four-barrel carburetor. The 327 Rebel would still be America’s quickest sedan to 60 mph in 1957, but couldn’t quite beat the Corvette without the Electrojector fuel injection for the overall crown. As it turns out, Bendix would find a new customer for the following year–but that’s a story for the next installment of Early EFI Chronicles.
Burnt Clutches 