Tadek Marek
Tadek Marek was a Polish engineer that joined Aston Martin from Austin in 1954. His work at Aston Martin culminated in the alloy inline six cylinder used on the Aston Martin DBR2, the straight six used by Lagonda and the famous V8 which was in use for over 30 years.
The “Tadek Marek” V8 Engine
Designed in 1968 Marek’s V8 went on to power a variety of cars from the Vantage, Volante, Virage models. It was also modified for use in the Bulldog concept car, the Nimrod racing car and the RHAM/1.
The V8 was used in a one off DB7 in 1998 (which normally used either a straight six or a 5.9Litre V12). This was the 6.3 V8 as used in the Virage, not the standard 5.3. The details are shown below from Gov.uk showing the unusual capacity.
The last production car the V8 was used in was the Aston Martin Vantage Le Mans V600 in 1999. This car was designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Aston Martin’s win at Le Mans.
From 2005 a variant of the Jaguar AJ-V8 engine (AJ37) was used to power the V8 Vantage. The engine was available as a 4.3 or 4.7 litre. This new engine replaced Tadek Marek’s V8 after over 30 years of powering various Aston Martins. This newer engine layout is flexible and the same block design is used for a V6, with blanked off cylinders.
About Author
Paul
Paul is an automotive aficionado with a passion for cars. His passion for automobiles has only grown over the years, and for the past 11 years, he has been blogging about British sports cars. Readers can expect irreverent content about classic models, interesting car stories and more!