Apparently he was inspired by 2 facts: #1 the Rambler six had the strongest most over engineered and over built bottom end of any engine he had ever seen
I'm no race motor guy, but if you look at the bottom of those sixes they're crazily over-built. And it's not just some fat oversized casting with too much metal (like the older Nash-based six). Thinwall but lots of gussets and beams, and seven fat mains that ride on tall walls. Every cylinder section is boxed. It makes the block long, but not that heavy.
That guy Marino, that worked for Barney, said that the twin-turbo version had four bolts per cap, I don't know how that got those in there.
So #50 was run in 67, 68, 69 I think. The first year they had carb icing troubles on the single-turbo motor (that's the version shown in the Rambler ad), I think Gary Schraeder told me that. Not sure if they did the twin turbo 68 69 or what. Apparently they got the motor straightened out but what prevented it from qualifying in the last year was chassis issues, not motor issues, and I'm sure, ultimately, money.
