Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a carburettor.

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 13: God-dammit-to-hell! 85! The carb’s no good.
1961		B. Crump Hang On a Minute, Mate (1963) 91: We’ll have to stick a pipe in the top of the tank and set a siphon going to the carb.
1977		L. Heinemann Close Quarters (1987) 136: It had four-on-the-floor and a V-8 with a four-barrel carb.
1986		S. King It (1987) 935: Available horsepower of 255 [...] gobbling hi-test through its four-barrel carb.
1990		R. Malan My Traitor’s Heart (1991) 117: He can [...] gun the engine all night, tuning up the twin carbs.
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 80: You know, good thing you’re cute. You remind me of this really pretty four-barrel carb I saw the other day.
2023		D. Whish-Wilson I Am Already Dead 146: The engine was already tuned and the custom carbie and extractors [...] meant that it was ready for the road.