When was the first Chevrolet V8 made?

Are you sure of that?

 

Around 1915 or 16, if'n I remember correctly.

 

1917 then not again until 1954 to be put into the Jive five and the rest is history. Check out the book about Ed Cole it's got all kinds of cool stuff in it. One cool thing is that Ed Cole's 54 Chevy hardtop had the very first one in it.

TERPU

 

hell i thought it was 55/ 56.

 

i know you could get one as an option on a 55 vette

 

Crap, you guys are fast! My grandpa loves to get "Chevy guys" with that one....

they'll just argue and argue....that's the kind of stuff that's fun at car shows and cruise ins....

He says he actually saw one in a barn when he was a young boy and that later he read it in a book........

Here's a link.....to verify it

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/chevy_small_block_v8.htm

 

i am only 20 so i shouldnt even know but i was always listenin when they would argue.

 

1917

 

The first V8 that just so happes to have been an over head valve was offered buy Chevrolet in thier 1916 touring car and discontinued in 1918 for the grand sume of $1300.00

 

as a side note the chevrolet brothers actualy made flathead ford four cylinder head conversions and speed parts , called frontys? and ater after having there own name tradmarked by some one else released stuff under the name of the town they were from before they imigrated to america

 

Fronty as in Frontenac,France.
That 1917 V8 didn't even have valve covers !!!!!! Must have been a noisy fxxxer.

 

I thought it was 1978. That's as far as the AutoZone computers go back, and computers are smart as we all know, so nothing could be much older.

An interesting side note: Color was not available back then. Everything was in black and white until about 1976.

You learn something new every day, don't you?

 

Overhead valve V-8 in 1916/1917?
That's pretty cool trivia, and a really advanced design.

 

Since we're on the subject, what was Chevrolet's name before it was known as Chevrolet?

I haven't verified this one......but gramps claims this...

 

As with other early V8's I believe that block was made in pieces and bolted together. Correct me if I'm wrong - this is also part of the interesting trivia. Troubled with expense, leaks and weight problems it was dropped after a quick try-out period. It was one of those curiosities that pushed the edge of possibility divided the automotive camps. Some were sure it could never be practical - others kept dreaming.

It wasn't until '32 that a light weight, one-piece V8 casting made history.

 

It was always Chevrolet - if you're referring to the company.


Mutt

 

The Pioneer Auto Museum (SD) has one on display. I have a pic, but no scanner.

 

It was always Chevrolet - if you're referring to the company.


Yeah, I think the company was created for a specific marketin plan, namely offering a slightly upscale competitor for the T--the V8 one obviously wasn't part of that plan, though. The main models of the time were four bangers in a chassis slightly longer than a T. "Chevrolet" had little connection with the Chevrolets, just a name chosen for marketing, as if someone brought out a "Petty" now.
I've heard of that V8 model being referred to as a "Mason" design--no idea why.

 

Aha--Mason was another company, absorbed into Chevrolet to produce engines. And Chevrolet did have a short run as an independent company before being folded in to Durant's grand plan. The "Little" auto company was also absorbed into Chevy.

 

speedy bills got a few in his colletion, as well as a frontenac car made by them. its a speedster looking thing

 

Very good Mr. Lancaster. Little was Chevrolet before we know it as it is today.....

Dang, I thought I had em'!!! Lancaster, you stay out of this!!!

 

It's still silly that they were wasting all that steel on non-Fords back then.

 

Actually, Little Motor Car Company, Mason Motor Company, and Chevrolet Motor Car Company were interrelated ventures by William Durant, launched in 1911 at the same time.
The Little Four and Six and Chevrolet's Six Type C Classic and Model H were popular, but it was the Chevrolet "490", with electric lights and self starter that got the attention of the public in 1915. The sales of the Chevrolet 490 caused Henry Ford to reduce the price of a model T to $440.00 because of the competition.
Below is a picture of a 1912 Little Four (Roadster), and the 1912 Chevrolet Classic Six (Touring).

Mutt

 

They didn't waste steel, they were half wood.

 

A local collector has a 1918 touring with the V8. Cool looking motor, nicknamed "baby grand" because of the exposed valve train.

 

AND.....Did you know why they discontinued the V-8 in 1918?

They said it broke down and overheated frequently and got poor mileage......IMAGINE THAT?!

 

1918 Chev V8



Oakland & Oldsmobile also had a V8s around 1918

 

I have heard it had but 2 main bearings. Think that crank may have flexed a bit?

 

I bet it didn't flex much at all considering the compression ration and redline that thing probably had.

 

Anyone know where the bowtie came from? There's a bronze statue of Louis Chevrolet at the Indy museum. He raced there in the early days, died almost pennyless.