In 1951, Ford opened the first of two engine assembly plants in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1955 they opened Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 to help produce engines for the popular Ford Thunderbird, and in later years it would assemble the famous five-point-oh V8 and Duratec V6 engines. But by far the most famous engine to come out of Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 was the 1969-72 351 “Cleveland” V8.
And on Friday, the engine stamps and air tools will go quiet forever as Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 shuts down for good, reports Cleveland.com. This inevitable conclusion is still sad to hear about, closing the book on an engine that became synonymous with an entire city.
The two Cleveland engine plants have produced motors for just about every Ford product, from commercial vehicles to passenger cars. Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 was almost killed along with the pushrod 5.0 engine in the 1990’s, only to be spared the axe at the 11th hour. But there is no such miracle awaiting the workers of Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2. The 250 jobs will be added to a third shift at Plant No. 1., which will be building new EcoBoost engines for a variety of Ford vehicles.
Perhaps the most famous engine to come out of Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 was the ‘69 to ‘72 351 Cleveland, which came with massive intake and exhaust ports on its famed 4V heads. This was a racing motor brought to the street, and was often referred to as the “big” small-block. Today a handful of companies still make modern versions of the 4V heads for small-block Fords. Yes, that were that good.
But as Ford marches forward into the future, modern manufacturing techniques and an adjusting market mean fewer assembly plants. Cleveland, it seems, needs only one engine plant, and that is all they are going to get. We’ll always have the memories.