100 years ago, it was the Wild West when it came to production automobiles. Companies were finding success with some of their designs, leading to aggressive research and development looking for the next “greatest thing ever.” Ford Motor Company was no different, chasing a new engine design that would be compact, but more powerful than the propulsion unit found in the Model T. Enter the X8.

Having seen the X layout used in some aeronautical layouts, Henry Ford pursued the idea as a way to compactly fit eight cylinders under a hood. We’ve discussed X-layout engines in the past, including Ford’s X8 design, but this Visio Racer video focuses solely on the Ford X8. Keep in mind, the “X” in X8 isn’t for “eXperimental” like a lot of “X” designations, but rather is like “V” in V8 — a description of the cylinder layout.

Covered under U.S. Patent 1,639,333 (US1639333A), the “H. FORD EXPLOSIVE ENGINE” features four two-cylinder engine banks, all arranged 90-degrees apart from each other with each row of four cylinders acting on a single crank pin, resulting in a flat-plane crank with only two crankpins situated 180 degrees apart, with a firing order of 1-2-5-4-7-8-3-6. Each bank of cylinders featured an air-cooled cylinder head and an “L-head” valve arrangement, with the valves being actuated by a pair of camshafts in situated in the engine case.

The Ford X8 was comprised of four two-cylinder engine banks, 90 degrees aprart, with 2.50-inch bores and 3.00-inch strokes, or therabouts. The two cams in the block actuated the L-head valves, and the crank had two rod pins offset by 180 degrees.

While the engine never left the prototype phase, there were several variants of the engine constructed and tested throughout the 7-year lifespan of the project (1920 to 1927). They mostly ranged from 110 to 120 cubic inches and generally had a bore around 2.50 inches in diameter and a stroke in the 3.00-inch range. There were several insurmountable difficulties inherent to the design, and ultimately, the Model A had a 200-cube inline-four-cylinder.

While the X8 didn’t set the world alight, many believe that it was a learning experience that ultimately led to the Ford Flathead V8 becoming the game-changer that it was.