Ford introduced the 385 big block V8 engine series in the late 1960s as it phased out the MEL (Mercury Edsel Lincoln) big block design ... replace the Ford FE big block as well.

To do that, Ford engineers took their existing FE-series V8 and made several ... of the Ford 427's development (1963-1965), the engine used a design called the "top-oiler" or "center-oiler." ...