Corvette The American Dream Machine

Cinco…… Five…….Nickel……Double Nickel……..55……….speed limit…no…….Sammy Haggar…….Maybe.  Fifty five…….hmmm.  Two Lane Blacktop? ……. That’s better! ….. ‘55 Chevy? …… Now your really warm.  ‘55…. 1955?

1955 was the model year that the legendary small block Chevrolet engine was introduced to the world.  An engine that was considered by many as the “Perfect Engine.”  It could be economical or it could be powerful.  It was extremely flexible and versatile.  It was compact and had what seemed to be unlimited potential. 

This engine would remain in the Chevrolet line for 45 years without any major modifications!  Now that is what I call real visionary thinking! 

Corvettes used this powerplant from 1955 through 1996.  It began as a 265 cubic inch engine and grew to 283 cubic inched for the 1957 model year.  In 1962 it was enlarged to 327 cubic inches and then again to 350 cubic inches in 1967 (Camaro only).  The Corvette received the 350 during the 1969 model year.  The engine would remain basically in that form until 1982, when it received a “cross fire fuel injection system” with very early and simple computer commands.  The more attractive Tuned Port Injection appeared on the 1985 models.  A revised version came in 1992 as the second generation engine, which used a reverse flow cooling system to cool the cylinder heads before cooling the engine block.  This engine appeared in the Corvettes as the LT-1 from 1992-1996 with a high performance LT-4 version using different cylinder head, high lift camshaft, and a unique intake manifold. 

GM SUVs would continue to use a more traditonal form of the small block chevrolet engine with sequential fuel injection until 2000, when the 45 year old engine was phased out by the third generation (GEN III) small block Chevrolet engine.

What is going to power the next 50 years of automobiles?  We will have to wait and see.

From all the research that I’ve done over the past many years, I can conclude that GM’s problems started back in 1957.  That’s right!  The executive board decided to take away the will to compete from the top engineers.

These engineers had been working tremedously hard on designing new, more compact, more efficient engines, and also on smaller lighter weight cars of all sizes.  The GM executive board decided that they would not compete in any  type of motorsport activity based upon the terrible accident that had occured two years earlier at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.  This decision was done without even anaylzing and reviewing what had happened.

For those of you who have my book,  look on page 194-195.  That photo from the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans will tell you why there were so many deaths at that race.  The people are standing on the track, during the event, in the rain, while the cars are racing on the track!!! 

These deaths were the result of irresponsibility and not from improved performance of the racing cars.

Once the GM engineers were told they could not compete with other manufacturers regarding the latest and greatest designs and technologies, the development slowed, and during many model years, it came to a complete stop with no changes in the cars from year to year.

Had these engineers been allowed to compete effectively, lighter weight, more efficient engines and automobiles would have been allowed to be produced, which would have resulted in safer, more fuel efficient automobiles that would have been in a better market position in the 70s.

This is where the cancerous gene entered the corporation.  This cancerous gene would spread from one generation of executives and engineers to the next generation, sometimes mutating into a more damaging gene. 

Corvette Pete