The Ford 385 engine family (the name coming from the 3.85 inch crankshaft stroke of the 460 V8) was the Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

's final big block V8 engine

Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...

 design, replacing the Ford MEL engine

Ford MEL engine

Ford developed for use in their line of Mercury models from 1958 through 1967. The MEL also replaced Lincoln's unique Y-block design. These engines were produced in Lima, Ohio at Ford's Lima Engine plant...

 and gradually superseding the Ford FE engine

Ford FE engine

The Ford FE engine is a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. A related engine, the Ford FT engine, was used in medium and heavy trucks from 1964 through 1978. The FE filled the need for a medium-displacement engine created by the discontinuation...

 family. This design was a departure from the paradigm utilizing thinwall casting methods and a skirtless block to reduce weight.

It was available in three sizes in production vehicles; 370 cu in (6.1 L) in medium-duty trucks only, 429 cu in (7.0 L) and 460 cu in (7.5 L).