Is it a Special 360 ?

Barbee6043 wrote: It has always intrigued me reading of what path the 360 would have taken from the factory if the musclecar deal wasn't running out.

Interesting discussion of the 360 at:

LA - Chrysler small block V8 engines

"According to engine leader Willem Weertman, the goal of the 360 was to replace the old B-series 361, providing something between the 318 and 383; but to do so at lower cost."

But I think that relatively modest power level only became the "goal" after the new smog regulations kicked in. Before that, I always understood that the Chrysler engineers had intended to develop an internally-balanced forged crank and to use the W-2 heads in the performance version of the 360.

I can't quote you chapter and verse on this, though. I just remember that the Mopar fanzines at the time (before the smog regs took effect) said something like this. They said that Mopar's intention was to kick the Chevy 350's butt really hard, since Mopar believed that GM would never go to the expense of developing heads that flowed as well as the W-2.