the infamous and unwinning Novi engine.. a supercharged quad overhead cam V8 that never won at Indy, but was by far a more powerful engine

Beginning as a Winfield engine, it w as 3.0 liter, either dual or quad cam, it was 450hp, which for 1941 was a hellava lot… ended it’s try at winning a race with 837hp in 1964. 3 liters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_engine

Brothers Ed and Bud Winfield, makers of racing carburetors, wanted to build an Indy car for the new formula. They landed sponsorship from Lewis Welch of Novi, Mich., who made Ford parts and rebuilt Ford engines.

 Welch wanted a V8, and asked that it be named after his home town of Novi. The Novi engine would be installed in a Harry Miller-designed Ford front-drive chassis that raced at Indy in 1935.

A large front-mounted, intercooled centrifugal supercharger was spun by a horizontal shaft from the rear of the engine.

 It breathed through three Winfield carburetors, and, at 8,000 rpm, the blower was turning at 42,000, producing up to 30 psi of boost.  It was rated at 450 horsepower when a typical Offenhauser had 300.

In the 1946 Indy, the Novi Governor Special did the four-lap qualifying at 216 km/h. No car had ever done more than 211
http://studebaker-info.org/Indy/NOvi/Novi1b.html

Photo from http://mispeed.net/tag/novi-water-tower/