Editorial

Henry Ford II declared war on everybody in 1962. His “Total Performance” mandate brought Ford factory racing support to drag strips, ovals, and road circuits around the world; in nearly every arena, Ford’s weapon of choice was the V8. The 406 was the latest evolution of their thin-wall FE big block, arriving mid-year for regular customers and racing teams alike. This transitional performance motor was in production for just one year, until it was superseded by the mighty 427 in mid-1963.

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This 1962 feature from Hot Rod by Ray Brock spells out the differences in great detail. What made the 406 more than just a punched-out 390 was its strength. The cylinder wall castings were thicker, and the bottom end was similarly beefed up. Cross-bolted main-bearing caps were added later in the production cycle—a first for Ford V8s. New heads had larger exhaust valves and tighter combustion chambers, giving the motor an 11.5:1 compression ratio out of the box. Factory ratings were 385 horsepower with a single four-barrel carburetor and 405 with three two-barrels.

In the history of Mopar performance, the Hemi hogs the spotlight—but Chrysler selected the 413 Max Wedge for their first foray into Super Stock and Factory Experimental drag racing. The “B” engine, with its wedge-shaped combustion chambers, phased out the first-generation FirePower and FireDome hemis in the late 1950s, and as the horsepower wars heated up in the early years of the 1960s, a new high-deck, high-compression version known as the RB (Raised Block) “Max Wedge” was introduced to power the factory Eliminator entries.