This may sound silly, but for those of you that want to learn the basics of how your car engine works, here's what I highly recommend:

There is a model company called "Revell". They have been making car and other plastic models for many, many years.

Recentlly they re issued a model of a V8 engine called the "VISIBLE V8". This is a 1/4 scale model of an actual V8 engine. The parts all move just the way a real V8 motor does. The outer case is clear plastic so you can see the inner workings of the motor and which part moves the others. It's in kit form and is assembled with a little glue and lots of tiny screws.

It was originally made in the early 60's by a company called "Renwal". I have both the original 1960 version (got it from Ebay) and the newer re issue.

If your curious as to how an engine operates and want to spend some long winter nights getting educated, I highly recommend this. You can find these kits on the internet if you do a search under "Visible V8".

How many of you older guys remember these ??

 

That "visible" line was fantastic.
They also made a visible man, and a visible woman, with clear plastic skin, and removable organs. You could paint the organs yourself and paint in the veins an arteries inside the skin.
In addition to the visible V-8they also made a visible rotary engine.
Thanks for bring back some memories.

 

They also made a Visible cow, horse and dog and a human head.(seriously, they did !)Best of all, they made a "Visible Chassis" showed the workings of brakes, tranny, suspension and steering. It was 3 feet long and you could mount the V8 to it !

You want another great memory ? CHIA PETS !!!

You can also find all these things on Ebay.