I got my driver’s license in Pennsylvania when I turned 16 in March of 1963. However, I probably had at leasst 10,000 road miles before then, many of them in older friend’s cars including several 1956 Fords, all with 272 or 292 c.i. V-8’s with three speed column-shifted manual gearboxes. If it had decent tires and good brakes, the ‘56 Ford wasn’t a bad handling ride and had enough power to get out of its own way. I remember cruising them at 80 to 100 mph on some of the straighter back roads around home. When I was on active duty stationed in San Diego in the late ‘60’s, my uncle up near Whittier had a ‘56 four door with a 292 and three on the tree as his work car. He let me cruise it around at night and it was a blast to drive with its dual exhaust and torquey little motor that would pull in third gear strong from about 35 mph up to 100 or so. Of course that old auto tech didn’t faze me much since my field car on the farm when I reached 12 years old was the old man’s 1955 Chrysler 300 and those Fords were nimble compared with the old Mopar.
The police special probably had a 312 Y Block, Ford’s Y Block engine was the first OHV offering, to replace the venerable Flathead V8. A 292 with straight pipes is one of the nicest sounding engines around. It has the same firing order as the Flathead, 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2, as the good Lord intended.