What Are These Massive Engines I Saw On My Long Drive Home Yesterday?

I’m finally back from our 1rd Autopian Member Only Track day, and it was a huge success, and we’ll have more content about it soon, but I suspect you may be tired of hearing about it in Cold Start, which I know you rely on to get your up-to-the-minute news about car brochures from 60 years ago and the latest insights into insignificant automotive details that you, somehow, turn into cash? I assume that’s what happens, via, you know, business or something.

The trip back home, towing the 2CV with a new, press-fleet Ford Ranger, went basically fine, it was just loooong. All told, with stops and whatnot, we were on the road about 12 hours. That’s a long drive! I know this crowd has plenty of people who have done such stints and even longer, but let me kvetch a bit. Plus, the trailer adds a bit of extra effort, I think.

Part of the length could be related to the World Cup, oddly; I only say this because for the first time when I put in the directions, my phone decided to remind me it keeps up with the world of sports:

Huh. I’ve seen it tell me things will be delayed, but it’s never, you know, offered an excuse. At least the trip was breathtaking, visually:

I’m happy to be back home. Even if leaving our Vrbo house in Connecticut was a massive pain because everyone left me alone to do all the cleanup and laundry crap that makes me long for staying in a hotel. What a pack of dirtbags, right? Also, I had to get the narrow 2CV on the trailer with no one to help guide me, so thanks for that, too, ya punks.

Okay, but let’s get to the point of this Cold Start, which I know you’re eager for. As I was crawling around a traffic-choked bit of highway, I happened to pass by this truck with two massive engines on it:

I was immediately, and thankfully not literally, struck by their sheer size – these were massive engines. Filthy, too. So what are they? That seems like a fun thing to do! Identify some filthy engines! Let’s see if we can get a better shot here:

That helps. They do look majestic in profile, contrasting against that pale blue sky! They’re almost HR Geiger-like in their dark, twisty complexity. So what are they?

First, they’re clearly Caterpillar engines, thanks to the branding we can see on those cannister-like things. Are they filters? Maybe they’re filters. They look like filters.

Okay, so as far as identifying these engines, I think I found a match for the right one: a Caterpillar 3508:

I could be wrong, but this one seems to match pretty closely. It’s a colossal, 34.5-liter diesel V8 making a bonkers 1,000 hp, with a minimum output of 680 hp. It’ll make a universe-twisting 3,144 lb-feet of torque at only 1,450 rpm. These get used in industrial machinery, big mining trucks, construction equipment, and boats. This one looks filthy enough that I suspect it wasn’t a marine engine.

I briefly imagined swapping it into the 2CV, and picturing the moment I turn it on, then let off the clutch, leaving a split-second blur of yellow-and-black and then nothing, just a tiny hole in the fabric of spacetime where the 2CV once existed.

What about the engine on the left? Help me figure out what that one is! I bet at least one of you delightful dorks knows what it is, so tell me in the comments!