Automobiliac's top 10 racing engine sounds

For no reason, I decided to list my top 10 favorite racing engines.  These are my personal favorites. Please feel free to share your own in the comment thread!

1) Matra V-12: Sounds like the wrath of the gods.

2) Aston Martin Straight Six: Smooth, with a wonderful guttural undertone.

3) Alfa Romeo Jano Supercharged Inline 8: The closest man has come to making a machine that sounds like a living, breathing thing.

4) The Colombo Ferrari V12: Needs no introduction

 5) Mercedes V-12: Defined the era.

6) BRM V-16: Ill fated car, sounds like raw aggression.

7) Offenhauser Indy Roadsters: Spine-tingling and brutal.

8) Can Am V8s, Ford and Chevy: Iron fist of America, hell yeah.

9) Group B Rally cars: Hard to pick a favorite, but the Audi Inline 5 Turbo is probably the most unique and memorable.

10) Ferrari 412 F1: The last of the V-12 Ferrari F1 engines.

Elf Scan 23: Matra MS 7

The MS 7 was Matra's highly successful F2 car, which dominated the 1968 and 1969 F2 seasons before new regulations ended its run in 1970.

This photo of an airborne Henri Pescarolo at the Nurburging marks the final installment of our weekly Elf Scan series here at Automobiliac. I hope you enjoyed all the wonderful period imagery and learned new facts--as I did!--about Matra, Alpine and the French racing scene of the late 1960s.

Elf Scan 21: Matra MS 5

The Matra MS 5 was a full monocoque Formula 3 car which dominated the 1966 and 1967 championship years.  Here the car is seen at its presentation at Montlhery with Henri Pescarolo looking pensively into the distance.

Elf Scan 19: Matra MS 11

Revealed at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, the MS11 was the first F1 car to be 100% Matra-developed, from its chassis to its 3L V-12 engine.  The MS11 was a complete monocoque, but it was slightly behind the leading edge set by Lotus in the previous season, as the engine did not play a structural role in the chassis, unlike the Ford-powered MS10, which was designed after the Lotus.  Jean-Pierre Beltoise piloted the car to 2nd in the Dutch Grand Prix that year, also beating the lap record.  The Matra V-12 was a magnificient engine, but Matra decided it needed more development before it could be a winner, and the political pressure to win was too great.  Therefore a Ford Cosworth DFV, rather than a French engine, would power Matra to the championship in 1969.

Elf Scan 17: Matra MS 80 Grand Prix Car

After a solid season in 1968 with the MS 10, Matra-Ford went all the way in 1969 with the Championship-winning MS 80, piloted by Jackie Stewart.  In the great action shot above, he's shown airborne at the Nurburgring.