Technical Chevrolet's First V8

I've owned a 490 and the V8 touring is a substantially bigger car. I had a chance to go for a ride in an unrestored V8 that was given to the Henry Ford Museum by GM, back in the 40's I believe. It had a ton of torque and seemed to be pretty fast for a car of that era. Thanks for posting, it is cool.

 

I agree! The post has been edited to reflect my true knowledge.

No negativity here! Y'all know that I'm not an expert in anything except for making mistakes. It was just a fun statement to catch attention. I thought the first V8 was 1955 anyway.

 

Thanks for photos, this is always a good question for quiz nights. There is one of these at a local museum , a private collector who wanted 1 example of every year Chevy ever made, up to the early 70's. You can always tell the "non-believers" because you always hear "WhAAAATTT?" when they read the board in front of the old Chevy , telling all about the motor.
Now, what we want to know is - Will it fit in between a pair a "A" rails?

 

Old news to me but always enjoy seeing photos. Don't let word get around or they'll repop the valve covers to fit a 350.

 

Not to hijack the thread but what year was the first Model A Ford? Another quiz night question.

 

The first Model A Ford was sold to the public on October 20th 1927.

 

The first Model A was sold July 23, 1903, to a Chicago dentist. The 1903 Model As were all painted red from the factory.

 

This post is a good example to many that there is a ton of automotive history out there that folks should be reading.

I was sitting with a group of retired dudes at BTT50s about 25 years ago, which meant I was about 25. After talking cars and models that cruised by my boss and his buddies asked how in the hell I knew so much history about cars that were built 20-50 years before I was born. My answer was simple. You guys lived the 50s and 60s and were reliving them by memory. I grew up around cars and STUDIED them my whole life. What I knew was not clouded by nostalgia and the passage of time.

 

LOL welcome to the HAMB. Neat car Nick, nice to see it. Sounds like the engine itself wasn't much of a success, but nice to look at, and give proper credit for the work. An early V8 that was a little stouter, and a very simple design, was the Curtiss V8 from 1906. Elegant and from aircraft design, which demanded total reliability, it ran over 136 mph in a motorcycle in early 1907, with Glenn Curtiss in the saddle, and the engine only weighed 135 lbs. The Curtiss Museum is a fascinating place to visit

 

Like all early aircraft engines, the Curtiss engine had a short period between overhauls, mostly because of high power loading...

 

Arkie, you're sneaky, but correct!!!!!

 

As the boss says "Old news travels fast". Its hard to get ahead of the knowledge around here. Thanks for the information. Nice car.

 

Well, I didn't know about it and I've been to a goat-ropin' and two county fairs! Seriously Nick, thanks for sharing. Not all of us were born with a silver wrench in our hand and had grease rags for diapers...

 

Well of course "I" knew that and a lot of you didn't so Neener-Neener!
That is a beautifully detailed example, Thanks for posting it. It would be fun to have one to play with and see if some things we know now could make it better.

 

Yep, my old buddy Alan Sputhe (RIP) could have had fun with one of those. He was one of those crazy man/ geniuses that you could listen to for hours, and loved to create stuff just because he could- he could have completely re-engineered that V8 for power and reliability, but still looking stock. One of his favorite projects in the later years was his buddy's 1937 Indian Scout that ran in a Vintage Road Race series, and was a consistent winner. Rules were pretty loose, if it looked stock, run it. Between cylinder bore and larger (flathead) valves, he quickly ran out of room, so he just cast up some new cylinders with the valve guides moved out- instant big-inch and big valves. 1937 transmission was over-taxed, just machine out the inside of the case and insert some Harley XR-750 parts- no problem. Then there was the Harley Twin Cam converted to SOHC- and the de-stroked Evo Heritage Softail that would spin 10,000 rpm... Let him at that old V8 sputhe.com

 

First US car V8 1907 Hewitt First massed produced V8 1914 Cadillac Henry's first was a V8 that had the block cast as one piece.

 

I saw a coffin nosed car at a show and asked what it was. the owner said acord, 1937. WOW! I didn't know Honda made cars back then!

 

Ah, the things we non-elite peasants marvel at lol. There are a couple strange ones at the Curtiss museum- one is a very early sidehack bike, and the side car is just a platform with a Morticia Addams-style wicker chair attached Another is a 1936 Chief off-road racing sidehack rig, unrestored- they had a series for that in NY back then. In the display is a picture of the passenger helping push it through a creek in a race

 

Real Chevy guys know about the first Chevy V8!

 

I get down there for the Winter Therapy bike display and the summer bike show..
In Curtiss's time rural NY was still a wilderness with shitty roads. I find it interesting he was building aircraft and engines so far from the industry of Buffalo or Rochester..

 

Thanks for the comments. Y'all are awesome!

 

Thanks for sharing! I have been a Chevy guy my whole life and just learned something. Apparently I was one of the last to know this though. I did know about the Model A however that @arkiehotrods mentions if that gets me any credit as a car guy.