1918 Chevy FACTORY V8

[PAUL161]

Remembering back when I was into restoring antique American built cars, I remembered seeing a 1918 Chevy with a V8 in it. They were very expensive at the time, almost 3 times the cost of the regular model with the 4 cylinder in it. The one I saw was still owned by the original owner, this was at Hershey in 1960. The car was given to him and his new wife on their wedding day in 1918 by his father. The old gentleman was in his 90s at the time! Many people looked at me out of the corner of their eyes when I told them about it with disbelief. Here's a couple photos of a 1918 Chevy V8. It wasn't actually a V engine, being more of an L shaped block. It had a single throat up draft carb. and a whopping 55 hp. The valve covers looked almost identical to the ones on a modern 4 cylinder Detroit diesel! As I remember, the V8 engine alone was around a $1200 option new. PJ

 

[tlthorne]

A friend has a couple, they have some get up and go for a teens car, just don't go to fast as they only have 2 wheel brakes. somewhere around here I still have some pullmax dies for the fender bead.

 

[martx-5]

That's always been one of those trick questions -- "When did Chevy introduce the V-8 Engine?". Very rarely does anyone come up with 1918 (or 1917 depending on what you read).

Approximately 6300 1917-1918 Chevys with the V8s were made.

 

[tlthorne]

one of Wayne's was titled as a 1919 they didn't sell all that well! I had some fun with the years also, ahhhhh the looks on a tri-5 chevy guy trying to figure out where that part I was working (reworking) went on his..... one thing I notice when I stripped a splash apron the metal was blued like gun blue before primer.

 

[Silverghost]

That engine looks very similar in design to aircraft engines of the day....I think Jay Leno has a car with a similar looking engine that did come out of an airplane of that era.

 

[PAUL161]

Being aviation oriented and around aircraft most of my life, it is very true that in the teens and up to and including today, auto type engines were and are still used quite frequently in the aviation field. Quite a few of the old planes had radiators on them indicating a possible auto related engine. I saw a model A Ford conversion once. Later conversions include VWs and Corvair Auto engines which are still of interest today for aircraft in the experiential category. Some high tech models include,

The
Subaru


The
Honda


The
Chevy LS-1

 

[coldplugs]

That engine looks very similar in design to aircraft engines of the day....I think Jay Leno has a car with a similar looking engine that did come out of an airplane of that era.

Looks similar to the Hispano Suiza used in the DH SE-5 about the same time. Lots of great images pop if you google "hispano suiza v8 engine" and view images.

 

[PAUL161]

An original Pietenpol-Air-Camper with a model A Ford engine. It was a kit back in the early 30s and the plans were for using the Ford engine turned around and the prop was bolted on the crank where the flywheel went. Notice the radiator behind the engine in front of the pilots view! We've come a long way since then. PJ

 

[DNK]

Just met a guy today that had that Chevy V8.
Was surprised when I asked about it
Not many know of it he said