Introduced in 1982, versions of the Essex V6 engine family were used in subcompact through to large cars, vans, minivans, and some pickup trucks.

[2] To meet the first criteria, many components were to be made of aluminum, including the intake manifold, front cover, water pump, oil pump, water outlet, rear cover plate, EGR distribution spacer, distributor, carburetor, engine block and cylinder heads.

The first engines were complete in early 1978 and successfully met all design objectives, but tooling and material cost increases prompted a redesign with a cast iron block while keeping the aluminum heads.

Other lightweight features that were deleted in the redesign included a hollow-core crankshaft, stamped steel exhaust manifolds, and an aluminum harmonic balancer and camshaft sprocket.

Even with the weight increases due to the redesign, it was the lightest V6 engine of any displacement ever built in North America to that time.

The problem, caused by the accelerated cooling of the blocks produced at full production speeds, was solved by increasing the width of the rib.

[2] In 1996 the Essex V6 received Ford's Split Port Induction (SPI) system, a form of variable-length intake manifold.

The secondary passage contains an intake manifold runner control (IMRC) deactivation valve which opens for high speed and wide-open throttle (WOT) situations to provide a minimally restricted path for additional air to maximize volumetric efficiency and power.

The second claim is also based on the two engines sharing certain features, including; a short rigid block, but shorter on the Ford and with different bore spacings; similar, but not identical, bore and stroke dimensions; similar rods and mains dimensions; a rolled radius on the mains; split rod pins for even firing intervals on the 90° block, although with different bobweight percentages; a cam located by a spring-loaded thrust button, later designed out on the Ford; and an aluminum front cover for the oil and water pumps.

The 1991–1995 Police Package Taurus, 1991–1994 Lincoln Continental and 1995 Ford Windstar had a high-output version of the 3.8 L with better cylinder heads and other modifications that produced 155–160 hp (116–119 kW) and 220–225 lb⋅ft (298–305 N⋅m) of torque depending on application and model year.

The upper intake manifold has a sticker located on the passenger side of the forward plenum denoting "Split Port Induction".

For 1999 the 3.8 L in the Mustang was updated to use the split port cylinder heads originally introduced on the Windstar, but did not use IMRC, leaving all twelve intake runners open at all times.

Internal changes to the engine included an engine block and cylinder heads modified to accommodate increased coolant flow, a fully counterweighted forged crankshaft, a billet camshaft with revised cam profiles, and hypereutectic alloy pistons, along with a reduction in the compression ratio to 8.2:1.

In 1991 Ford again sent a batch of supercharged engines, this time in production Thunderbird SCs, to the Arizona Highway Patrol for hot weather testing.

The supercharged Essex was dropped from the Cougar XR-7 in favor of a V8 shortly after the start of the 1991 model year, but continued to be used in the Super Coupe.

Applications: The largest displacement version of the Essex V6 appeared in the 1997 model year as a replacement for the Ford 300 straight six in the F-150.