Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine as the "six and a quarter" litre engine. When new, the Rolls-Royce/Bentley V8 was rumoured to be an American engine design licence-built, but it was developed in-house by Rolls-Royce and Bentley engineers. This can be seen in its design characteristics, with features like an aluminium alloy cylinder block with wet liners, gear-driven camshaft, (initially) outboard spark plugs and porting inspired by the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine. The bore spacing of 4.75" was unlike any American V8 engine and the firing order was 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2 something uncommon in any period American OHV V8. The deep skirted crankcase design is also rare with
Rolls-Royce B range engines many Rolls-Royce B range engines are still in use. Rolls-Royce B range engines The Rolls-Royce B range was a range of petrol engines first intended to be installed in a car but in 1943 developed into a range to power the British Army's wheeled vehicles. The Alvis Saladin and Rolls-Royce Phantom IV were fitted with 8-cylinder versions. The B range of engines were all of the inline configuration, with crossflow inlet-over-exhaust cylinder heads and were naturally aspirated. They were heavily rationalized engines, which made use of as many common parts across the range as possible, for example, the 8 cylinder