Mar 31, 2012

80 Years Ago Today

The new Ford V-8 went on sale.  It was the result of Henry Ford's obsessive belief that it was possible to create a low-priced V-8 by designing and casting a single block that would contain the valves and cylinders.  His best engineers solved the problem.  The first engines were beset with problems -- primarily overheating -- but these were eventually solved.  

No other engine until the small block Chevrolet in 1955 has had such an impact on the automobile industry, or the after-market hop-up industry.  Even Clyde Barrow, of Bonnie and Clyde fame, thought highly of the engine and told Mr. Ford about it!