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Camber Daily Reels, straight from our Facebook Page. Short, sourced and occasionally loud.
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Iconic Engines: Honda VTEC
Honda gave one engine two personalities and called it VTEC.
Valves are the little doors that let fuel and air in and exhaust out. Cam lobes push them open. Mild lobes feel smooth in town. Wild lobes make power at high rpm. As the revs climb, oil pressure pushes a pin that switches the valves over to the wild lobes.
Honda’s own press office still says VTEC kicks in.
It debuted on the 1989 Integra XSi in Japan: 1.6 liters, 160 metric horsepower, no turbo. Pictured: a 1996 Civic VTEC at Honda’s museum in Marysville, Ohio.
Which VTEC Honda would you take home?
Credits
- Photo: 1996 Civic 1.6L VTEC at Honda Heritage Museum (Marysville, Ohio) by Nheyob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Honda Integra XSi by dave_7, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Honda R18A engine by Hatsukari715, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped, text added). Commons
- Archive film: Design for Dreaming (GM, 1956), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Music: “country rockabilly 100” by Fresh_Morning via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
- Pixabay Content License summary. License
- Diagrams: Camber Daily originals. camberdaily.com
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Iconic Engines: the Chevy Big-Block / 454
Chevy’s small-block V8 got the nickname the Mouse. So when Chevy built a much bigger V8, people called it the Rat.
The Rat is the Mark IV big-block, and it arrived in 1965 as a 396. What makes a big-block big is not only the size of the cylinders. It is how far apart they sit. On the small-block, the cylinders are 4.40 inches apart, center to center. On the big-block, 4.84 inches. That extra room lets each cylinder be wider, and a wider cylinder holds more fuel and air. Chevy also tilted the valves at odd angles, and the car magazines said the heads looked like a porcupine. So, a rat with porcupine quills. Lovely.
It grew to 427 in 1966 and to 454 in 1970: a 4.25-inch bore, which is how wide each cylinder is, and a 4.00-inch stroke, which is how far each piston travels. The 1970 Chevelle SS with the LS6 version was rated 450 hp. That is the number everyone remembers, and it is an SAE gross figure, measured on a test stand with no air cleaner, accessories or exhaust. From 1972, ratings switched to SAE net, measured the way the engine actually sits in the car. The 1972 454 was rated about 270 hp net. Part of that drop was the new test, and part was lower compression for emissions. Same Rat, smaller number.
The Corvette dropped the 454 after 1974. Trucks kept it much longer: Chevy’s heavy-duty pickups still offered a 454, by then called the Vortec 7400, through 2000. Rats are hard to get rid of.
Ever owned a big-block? Tell us which one.
Credits
- Photo: Twin Turbo 454 by JOHN LLOYD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Chevrolet 502 Engine, Burbank California by Tim-desser, Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Commons
- Photo: 1969 Camaro L72 427 by Eric Friedebach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: 1968 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 by Jeremy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Archive film: Master Hands (Chevrolet, 1936), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Design for Dreaming (GM, 1956), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: 1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads (Chevrolet Division, General Motors, 1955), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Tomorrow’s Drivers (1954), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Engine sound: “Open header V8 cars idling and revving” by holderall via Freesound, CC0 1.0. Freesound
- Music: “Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental Track” by NickPanek via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
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Iconic Engines: the Ford Flathead V8
In 1931, if you wanted a V8, you needed an expensive car. In 1932, Henry Ford put one in a car that started under 500 dollars.
V8s already existed, mostly in Cadillacs and other pricey cars. Henry Ford wanted one cheap enough to upstage Chevrolet’s low-priced six. The trick was the casting. Most V engines of the time were bolted together from several pieces of iron. Ford cast the bottom of the engine and both rows of cylinders as one single piece, which cut the cost. The first car to get it was the Model 18, which most people just called the Ford V-8: 221 cubic inches, 65 hp. Cheap is relative, mind you. The fancier Victoria version cost 600 dollars, about six and a half months of the average 1932 wage.
Why “flathead”? Valves are the little doors that let fuel and air into each cylinder and let the exhaust out. Ford put them down in the block, right beside the cylinders, so the cylinder head on top is basically a lid. Strictly speaking, it is not perfectly flat. Engine people will tell you this. Often.
Ford built it in the U.S., with updates, through 1953, and it became the hot rodder’s engine: simple, cheap to rebuild, and backed by a mountain of speed parts. And because the valves sit beside the pistons instead of above them, the two can never hit each other, which is reassuring when you are tuning one in your garage.
Still hear a Flathead? Tell us where.
Credits
- Photo: Flat head V8 in a 1930 Ford Model A Hot Rod by dave_7, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Ford Model B V8 by Sicnag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: 1932 Ford V8 Model 18 by IFCAR, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped, text added). Commons
- Archive film: Master Hands (Chevrolet, 1936), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Design for Dreaming (GM, 1956), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: 1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads (Chevrolet Division, General Motors, 1955), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Tomorrow’s Drivers (1954), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Engine sound: “Open header V8 cars idling and revving” by holderall via Freesound, CC0 1.0. Freesound
- Music: “Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental Track” by NickPanek via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
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Iconic Engines: the Chevy LS
For the 1997 Corvette, GM designed a brand-new V8 from scratch. Then it kept one old habit.
The old V8 was the Chevy small-block, around since 1955. The new one was the LS1, drawn on a clean sheet of paper: an aluminum block where the old engine was iron, 345 hp, and about 100 pounds lighter than the engine it replaced. Hot Rod magazine’s verdict at the time was that apart from the lifters and rod bearings, nothing interchanges with the old small-block. So, a new engine. With an old name.
The habit is how far apart the cylinders sit. Measure from the center of one cylinder to the center of the next and you get 4.40 inches, same as 1955. A Corvette tech writer at the time suspected that was kept more for marketing than engineering. If so, it is the best-engineered marketing in Detroit.
It stuck. The LS3 made 430 hp in the 2008 Corvette, and the new Gen 6 truck V8s GM announced on Sept. 17, 2026, up to 481 hp, still keep their cylinders 4.40 inches apart.
Ever swapped an LS? Tell us which one.
Credits
- Photo: Chevrolet LS3 engine by dave_7, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Chevrolet LS3 engine (second view) by dave_7, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (C5, 2001) by Charles, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Archive film: Master Hands (Chevrolet, 1936), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Design for Dreaming (GM, 1956), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: 1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads (Chevrolet Division, General Motors, 1955), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Archive film: Tomorrow’s Drivers (1954), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Music: “Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental Track” by NickPanek via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
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Iconic Engines: the Chrysler Hemi
Chrysler’s first Hemi had wings. Not the Daytona kind.
First, the name. Hemi is short for hemispherical, which means shaped like half a ball. It describes the roof of each cylinder, the little space where fuel and air get squeezed and set alight. GM’s V8s of the day used a wedge-shaped roof with the valves standing in a row. Chrysler made the roof a dome, put the intake and exhaust valves on opposite sides of it, and the spark plug in the middle. The dome leaves room for bigger valves, so the engine breathes in and out more easily, and an engine that breathes better makes more power. Strictly speaking, Chrysler’s dome was never a full half ball. Hagerty points out the accurate term is spherical cap, which explains why nobody put it on a fender. DeSoto did try FireDome.
Chrysler’s first engine with that roof was a fighter engine. In 1941 the Army hired Chrysler to build one, and Chrysler’s answer was two V8s mounted upside down and bolted back to back: the XI-2220, 16 cylinders, 2,220 cubic inches, 2,500 hp. It flew in a P-47 in July 1945. By November the war was over, and so was any need for a 2,500 hp fighter engine.
The idea went into the 1951 FirePower, Chrysler’s first production V8. In 1964, 426 Hemi cars finished 1-2-3 in the Daytona 500. Ram dropped the Hemi from the 1500 for 2025, truck buyers made their feelings known, and the 5.7 is back for 2026 with 395 hp. Ram’s CEO put it plainly: “Ram screwed up when we dropped the HEMI.” Rare honesty from a car company.
Ever owned a Hemi? Tell us which one.
Credits
- Photo: Republic XP-47H, U.S. Air Force, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Commons
- Photo: 1951 Chrysler New Yorker Convertible by Greg Gjerdingen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: 1966 426 Street HEMI Engine by Greg Gjerdingen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Patent drawing: US 2,436,043 (Chrysler). Patent
- Archive film: Master Hands (Chevrolet, 1936) and Design for Dreaming (GM, 1956), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Music: “Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental Track” by NickPanek via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
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Then vs Now: 1955 Corvette 265 vs 2027 LS6
In 1953, some people at GM wanted to cancel the Corvette. Then it got a V8.
The first Corvette had a 150 hp Blue Flame six, a Powerglide automatic, a fabric top that leaked and no outside door handles. GM built 300, and fewer than 200 had sold in the first six months. A sports car with an automatic and no door handles. Bold.
For 1955 it got Chevy’s new small-block: 265 cubic inches, one four-barrel, 195 hp. The 2027 Corvette gets the new LS6: 409 cubic inches, direct and port injection, 535 hp. Before you reach for a calculator, the 1955 figure is SAE gross, measured on a test stand with no air cleaner, accessories or exhaust, and the 2027 figure is SAE net. Different tests.
What never changed: cylinder centers 4.40 inches apart, a layout GM says more than 100 million small-blocks have shared since 1955. Seventy-two years, one tape measure.
Which small-block in between did you grow up with?
Credits
- Photo: 1955 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible by Mustang Joe, Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Commons
- Photo: GM Heritage Center 265 V8 by Tino Rossini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added). Commons
- Photo: Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C8 by John Bauld, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped, text added; 2020 car shown). Commons
- Music: “Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental Track” by NickPanek via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
- Pixabay Content License summary. License
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Iconic Engines: the Chevy small-block, 4.40 in
Every Chevy small-block V8 since 1955 spaces its cylinder centers 4.40 inches apart. That includes the sixth generation GM announced on Sept. 17, 2026, whose 6.6-liter V8 brings back 400 cubic inches and makes 481 hp.
The first one, in the 1955 Chevrolet, was a 265 rated at 162 hp in base form, and it weighed 50 lb less than Chevy’s own six. (1955 ratings are SAE gross; today’s are SAE net.)
What was your first small-block, and what was it in?
Credits
- Footage: “1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads” (Chevrolet Division, General Motors, 1955), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Footage: “Master Hands (Part I)” (Chevrolet Motor Company, 1936), Prelinger Archives via Internet Archive, public domain. archive.org
- Music: “country rockabilly 100” by Fresh_Morning via Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. Track
- Pixabay Content License summary. License
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