What's Hit and Miss Engine? A hit-and-miss engine is a type of four-stroke internal combustion engine that is controlled by a governor to operate at a set speed. It was conceived in the late 19th century and produced by various companies from the 1890s through approximately the 1940s. The name comes from the speed control on these engines: they fire ("hit") only when operating at or below a set speed, and cycle without firing ("miss") when they exceed their set speed. This is as compared to the