V8 Chevs a Popular and Familiar Engine

V8 Chevy’s are one of the most popular, longest produced lines of engines on the planet. These engines are available in two different formats, the small block and big block engines which have been used in hundreds of models of cars and trucks throughout the years. While Chevrolets other GM counterparts at Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile also produced their own versions of the V8 engine, the small block V8 Chevy was the only one to stand the test of time, and has since been used in every GM brand except Saturn.

The first V8 Chevy was introduced in 1955 and was a small block engine that was used in both the Corvette and the Bel Air. This small block engine underwent many changes in design and performance over the years, and continued to be produced until it was finally discontinued in 2003 and replaced by the GM LT and the GM LS small block V8s. The Chevy small block V8 engine has continuously been rated as one of the top ten engines of all time by numerous publications and is revered among car enthusiasts for its overall performance and longevity. The most successful of Chevys small block V8s was the 350, which is the engine used in more GM vehicles than any other. While the small block V8 engine began to be known as GMs all around engine and was featured in everything from muscle cars such as the Corvette to Chevy vans, the big block V8s made headlines for other reasons.

V8 Chevys didnt take long from their initial release in 1955 until they were upgraded to the big block version.  In 1958, Chevy produced the W Series of big block V8s which were originally intended for larger cars and trucks. Although it didnt take long until Chevy realized their potential for speed and started putting them in their higher performance sports cars such as the Corvette and Camaro, however the big block engines were mainly used in these cars during the 60s and 70s. After this point, the big block engines began to be primarily used for V8 Chevy trucks and SUVs, and they continue to be used for this purpose today.

The Chevy big block finally died out in 2009 when the Vortec 8100 7th generation was replaced by a GM made version. V8 Chevys have a very long and storied history of being extremely tough and reliable engines without sacrificing performance, however, like most other GM brands, they have eventually died out to be replaced by a GM corporate engine to be used in all GM makes and models.