In all, over 90,000,000 small-blocks have been built in carbureted and fuel injected forms since 1955. The small-block family line was honored as one of the 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century by the automotive magazine Ward’s AutoWorld.
Over the years, every American General Motors division, except Saturn, used it and its descendants in their vehicles. Several intermediate displacements appeared over the years, such as the 283 cid that was available with mechanical fuel injection, the 327 cid as well as the numerous 350 cid versions.Īlthough all of Chevrolet’s siblings of the period (Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac) designed their own V8s, it was the Chevrolet 350 cu in (5.7 L) small-block that became the GM corporate standard. Drawings by David Kimble.Production of the original small-block began in the fall of 1954, for the 1955 model year, with a displacement of 265 cid, growing incrementally over time until reaching 400 cid in 1970. This drawing is of the 1967 version of the 302 cid Chevrolet. The Chevrolet big-block is a series of large displacement V8 engines that were developed and used in the 1950s through the 1970s. Chevrolet had introduced its popular small-block V8 in 1955, but needed something larger to power the medium-duty trucks and its heavier cars that were on the drawing board. These blocks are referred to as the “Gen I” small-block, the subsequent “Gen II” LT, and “Generation III/IV” LS, along with the current “Generation V” (LT/EcoTec3) engines. The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic, and for a V8, smaller engine block.