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The phrase to fire on all cylinders, and variants, mean:
– (of a motor vehicle): to operate with maximum power, to function at its best;
– (of a person or thing): to perform at peak level, to be on top form.
Conversely, the phrase to miss (also to misfire) on all cylinders, and variants, mean: to work badly, to be in bad condition.
In those phrases:
– The intransitive verb fire means (of an internal-combustion engine): to undergo ignition of the fuel mixture.
– The intransitive verbs miss and misfire mean (of an internal-combustion engine): to undergo failure of ignition in one or more cylinders.
– The noun cylinder designates a chamber in a reciprocating internal-combustion engine, within which a piston moves.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the phrase to fire on all cylinders and variants that I have found:
1-: From Automobile Show at Olympia, published in The Daily Telegraph (London, England) of Thursday 15th November 1906 [page 12, column 3]—here, firing is a verbal noun:
NAPIER MODELS.
At the stand of Messrs. S. F. Edge (Ltd.), there are some very fine exhibits of the Napier car. All honour should be given to this firm, who were the pioneers of the six-cylinder car. […] All of the four cars at this stand are six-cylinder. […] As for the ignition, this is the perfected Napier synchronised ignition system. There is only one coil, and this, with the commutator, &., is easily accessible, for it is on the dash. A perfectly even firing on all cylinders is obtained with it.
2-: From one of the unconnected paragraphs making up the column Some Offside Plays, by ‘HEK’ (i.e., the U.S. sportswriter Hugh E. Keough (1864-1912), published in The Chicago Sunday Tribune (Chicago, Illinois, USA) of Sunday 24th November 1907 [part 3: Sporting, page 1]:
You have to hand it to the gentleman who cracked the bass drum. He never missed a lick and was firing on all cylinders at the finish.
3-: From the column In the Wake of the News, by ‘HEK’, published in The Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, Illinois, USA) of Tuesday 25th February 1908 [page 10, column 2]:
RAH FOR THE U.S.!
Michigan City-on-the-Lake, Feb. 24.—[Special by a Frozen Stiff Correspondent.]—The Flying Tommy, wing and wing, stem and stern, with six Indiana farm horses firing on all cylinders and the inevitable Mr. Coey at the wheel, dashed into this gasoline station at the furious rate of sixty miles a year yesterday, and cleared at once for Chicago, where, we understand, warm coffee awaits. Mr. Coey manfully stuck to the tiller, declining many pressing invitations to get out and walk.
The trip from the last checking point was uneventful, the only accident being a little tire trouble in the nigh foreleg of the off leader.
The Flying Tommy demonstrated its fitness for all kinds of roads. The only improvement to its equipment I can suggest at this time is another team of horses.
4-: From The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Florida, USA) of Thursday 5th March 1908 [page 4, column 2]:
Hotel Ormond, March 4.—Following the first of the automobile races yesterday a “gasoline dance” was given in the casino this evening. The orchestra got firing with all cylinders and the ball room floor had about the largest crowd this year.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the phrase to miss (also to misfire) on all cylinders and variants that I have found:
1-: From Wheel Notes, a motoring column by ‘Spark’, published in The Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania, Australia) of Tuesday 4th January 1910 [page 3, column 1]:
Let us take it that the car has been greased and oiled up, and that the engine will run without miss-firing on all cylinders.
2-: From an account of the baseball match between the St. Paul Saints and the Indianapolis Indians that took place at Indianapolis on Sunday 24th July 1910—account by H. G. Copeland, published in The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) of Monday 25th July 1910 [page 8, column 1]:
The Indians at the start gave every indication of setting new marks in every inning from one to nine, but after they had crawled up to even terms with their opponents in the last lap of the third inning they got tire trouble and were forced to fall back. Then Lindaman’s machine missed on all four cylinders and the Indians were lapped, and when he broke a steering knuckle a little later on the Indians were lapped again.
3-: From The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California, USA) of Saturday 27th August 1910 [page 2, column 2]—here, the phrase is applied to an aeroplane:
Asbury Park (N. J.), August 26.—[…] Ralph Johnstone broke the world’s speed-soaring record by climbing to a height of 1,000 feet in exactly ten minutes. The performance was especially thrilling because Johnstone’s balky motor continually missed fire on all cylinders while he was racing upward.
4-: From Prophetic Eyes Blinded, published in The Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) of Tuesday 22nd August 1911 [page 3, column 2]:
Looking over the summer crop of necromancers, one is forced to conclude there isn’t a seer in the city who can peer as far into the future as he could throw a government mule by the tale [sic]. Hardly a week goes by that some prophet of the occult doesn’t miss fire in all six cylinders—fail to see trouble coming which could easily be perceived by a blind man—and yet they are all able to pay the rent on lavish apartments.
5-: From the column In the Wake of the News, by the U.S. sportswriter Ring W. Lardner (1885-1933), published in The Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, Illinois, USA) of Saturday 26th December 1914 [page 6, column 6]:
NEW SPEEDWAY OPENS.
The new speedway, located a little bit north of Riverside, was formally opened yesterday with a 500 mile race for cars I have ridden in. […]
[…]
[…] John De Long, who had made a poor start, now got up among the leaders, and the rest stopped to look at his machine, which still retains its youthful vigor. John, therefore, went to the front and stayed there for four miles in spite of the fact that he was missing on all two cylinders.
6-: From an account of the baseball match between the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics that took place at Philadelphia on Wednesday 16th June 1915—account by E. A. Batchelor, published in The Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan, USA) of Thursday 17th June 1915 [page 10, column 1]:
George Dauss wasted some beautiful pitching on a game in which the Tigers scoring machinery was missing on all six cylinders.
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