Below is a look under the bonnet of a big 1917 Chev. Yes it's a V8, predating the Ford V8 by many years. It's not, however, the first American V8 but I think it might be the first OHV one. Cadillac introduced their V8 in 1914 in their Type 51 (314 cu. in.) but that was a side valve. The side valve Cadillac V8 continued until 1948. This 288 cu. in. Chev V8 only lasted until 1918 and then there wasn't another one until the small block in 1955, due to the Chevrolet Motor Car Company being acquired by and merged into General Motors in 1917.
This is the car itself, a big tourer, much more luxurious looking than the little 4-cylinder ones that followed.
This is the Chev 490 of about 1918. Not quite as common on Australian roads as the later Superior and National Chev 4s (I don't think), the 490 was reasonably popular (Ivan Venning has a green one which we see from time to time). It was called the 490 because it was priced at $490 to compete with the Ford T which was $495. Chevrolet nearly went out of business in 1920 when 100,000 cars were stored at factories unsold for some time. They were still being built in 1921 however.
These two black cars are 1939 and 1940 models. The 1939s are significant to me because I have had two of them. One had the supposedly revolutionary knee action front end and the other had a beam axle and leaf springs. This black one was of the leaf spring variety. The 1940 is significant because Jane's dad (Frank) has an identical one as the family car when she was a kid. I remember it in the carport many years later after he had moved on to DKWs, Goliaths and an EK wagon.
This last one is a very attractive 1934 roadster behind a not so common 1933 model.
1 comment:
Many years ago I read a test drive of a 1917 Chev V8 and have won a few arguments with people who thought 1955 was the first Chev V8.
Apparently the cork lined clutch could not handle the torque of the engine which along with cost was the reason it went out of production.
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