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[autorover1]

I was looking at a video yesterday and a Santana 2A came up with the 6 cylinder engine based on the standard  4 cylinder  2 1/4 LR engine. Has anyone got one in the club. I have only seen one before & that was a bare engine we had at Rover Longbridge  for comparison purposes. 

[diffwhine]

One of my clients has 4 or possibly 5 6 pot Santanas being used as recovery trucks in Senegal. I know that at least two of them are 1960s models (did Santana also refer to them as 2As?). Any particular information you need as I should be in that neck of the woods relatively soon?

[autorover1]

It just reminded me of early days at Longbridge and the fact Tom Barton came over to look at it, I was the only person in the office who knew who he was . I wondered if there were any in the UK . I am sure not many people know the engine existed. 

[diffwhine]

Those were the days... I can just about remember Tom Barton.
I've worked on a few of those 6 pots over the years - mainly in North Africa where most of them ended up. Nobody else could afford to put petrol in them!
Solid old lump, but then so was virtually everything Santana built.

[22900013A]

Wasn't the Santana six only diesel?

[Calum]

A chap I know who's in the Series 1 club (I think) has a pair of 'Gran Capacidad' or whatever they are called (Santana's version of the hi-cap pickup). They're stretched to 119" or something instead of 109" and have the Santana 6 diesel in them. Jon Holmes (Cross Channel Classics) had one in his series 1 109" until it died (now running a 300 I think) and he imported another for a mate which is currently being rebuilt in a 2a 109"

Not seen any of them in the flesh yet mind you 

[riedland]

Wasn't the Santana six only diesel?

Both 4 & 6 cylinders exist, if you cant' see many in the UK they are lots in south of France and in Germany, don't ask me why.

[ChrisJC]

It always struck me that the 6 cylinder version of the petrol would have been a very durable engine in the less developed parts of the world.
And a 6 cylinder TDi would be phenomenal, easily up to holding off the likes of the big Japanese 6 cylinder Diesels.

A pity that Longbridge never took it on.

Chris.

[autorover1]

It was all part of BL at the time, it wouldn't have been something the cars side would have required. I am sure it was a petrol version , as was in the video clip,  but a diesel 6 cylinder  would have been on obvious spin off

[diffwhine]

Santana built 4 and 6 cylinder versions of both petrol and diesel engines. Most petrols went to Africa or South America. Just dug out one of my Santana parts manuals - here's the extract for the 6 Pot petrol