Ford improved the engine a number of occasions over its virtually three a long time of manufacturing. It launched the 460 cubic-inch (7.5-liter) model in 1972, which was bought alongside the 429 for a time earlier than the latter was phased out. Electronic gasoline injection (EFI) was added to the 385 in 1988; an intensive modernization of the unit, which was extra environment friendly and polluted much less after this main improve.

The 385 wasn’t meant as a efficiency engine, no less than not at first, however after Ford used one in NASCAR, the broader public began to understand this huge block’s efficiency potential. Upgraded variations of the engine discovered their manner below the hood of efficiency Fords, like the Mustang Boss 429 Super Cobra Jet, which had round 370 horsepower due to using a singular consumption manifold specifically designed to work with a Holley four-barrel carburetor, cast pistons, a stable lifter camshaft, and ram air induction.

This was essentially the most potent highway utility for the 385, however in racing, it was pushed even additional. The 1970 Ford Torino King Cobra, constructed to run within the NASCAR Grand National sequence, featured the identical engine because the Super Cobra Jet, however with extra energy given its racing tuning.

For truck purposes, the 385 was tuned to favor torque over energy. In the F-600 and F-700 medium-duty pickups, the 429 cubic-inch unit was used between 1977 and 1991, and it served as an alternative choice to the usual engine, which was an 8.2-liter V8 turbodiesel referred to as the “Fuel Pincher.”