With details so intricate you’d think it was actually pulled out of a car, Grant Takara’s machined aluminum V8 engine block pen holder makes for a great tabletop conversation starter if you’re a true-blue gearhead!

The all-metal engine block comes with 8 cylinders that are machined to be wide enough to hold 8 pens or pencils, and each cylinder is additionally outfitted with a rubber O-ring for a nice snug fit that holds your writing instrument without scratching or damaging it. Moreover, the relatively well-weighted machined aluminum block even doubles up as a rather cool paperweight, complete with rubber feet so your engine block doesn’t end up denting or ripping your important papers. Is it way too aesthetic-heavy to count as a functional product? Probably… Is it still an incredibly cool device that a car lover would almost certainly consider owning just for the novelty value? Overwhelmingly!

Designer: Grant Takara

The miniature V8 Engine Block Pen Holder models itself loosely on the LS3, a small block engine manufactured by General Motors and often found in Chevrolet’s cars (it was introduced in 2008 in the base-model Corvette). The entire scaled-down replica measures 3.7 inches in length, 3.1 inches width-wise, and 2.3 inches in height, and comes complete with machined details including bolt holes for the cylinders, the bores for the fuel intake/exhaust, bores for cam rods, and the cavity for the crankshaft.

Designed by a fellow car enthusiast by the name of Grant Takara, the V8 Engine Block Pen Holder was fabricated in his own design workshop on his 5-axis Hurco VM10Ui CNC Machine. The entire V8 block is made from a single aluminum billet and comes with 3 different O-ring sizes that accommodate anywhere from a regular pen to a sketch pen and even a thick marker. Obviously, the design itself is open to modularity and Grant can easily build a V6 or V12 if he chooses. I wouldn’t mind a sharpener built into the crankshaft hole, personally!