Thread: Hot Rod History

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Part II

Ford wasn't completely asleep at the switch. Once they finally realized (along with just about everyone else in the industry)that Chevrolet had made a quantum leap in technology, they set out to design a competive engine of their own. It took Ford until 1962 to unveil it's "small block" engine, that, surprise, surprise, copied many of the more innovative features of the Chevrolet (size, weight, valve train, casting techniques, etc.) But for some odd reason they didn't quite think it through. But then, their primary objective was to build engines for their current production cars, not the old ones that they didn't make money on anymore. As such, their engine, while narrow enough (even better than the Chev), was too long to easily fit most older engine compartments. Their oil pump/sump was at the front, which wasn't especially friendly to crossmembers. And within 3 years they were making changes to the basic block that rendered the first few years product as near step children. All in all, they asceded a ten year head start to Chevrolet in market penetration. The die, and loyalties, were set. In the last 15 or so years, parts have become more available to fit an sbf in an older rod with more ease, and these engines have gained more popularity, albeit at greater expense. Brand loyalties aside, it became a standard to put a Chevrolet engine in your older Ford, or any other brand for that matter. Why? It gave the most "bang for the buck" and was the easiest to modify for performance.

Now, there's no point in discounting brand loyalty. There are many who are dyed in the wool Blue Oval guys, just as there are die hard Bow Tie nuts, along with all the other possibilities. This is a myopia I don't personally possess, but I understand and recognize it as a reality. But when we talk about hot rodding as a hobby/sport/whatever, it's about modifying a car to improve performance and style. As such, the entire history of rodding is full of examples of mixing and matching disperate components to create a new whole. And of late, it's become even more nostalgic than ever. This has led to a reawakening of interest in some of the older engines such as flathead Fords, early '50's GM's other than Chev, and of course the mighty Hemi Mopars.

I was struck last night by a news clip of the President touring a "GM production plant". Hanging from the conveyor line in the back ground was a row of small block Chev engines (you can see what my real focus was), based on the exhaust port configuration and the overall silhouette. They all had chrome valve covers and some had the aluminum heads, probably ZZ4 engines, and others had painted heads, probably 330hp engines. Think about it. Here's an engine that is essentially a 50 year old design, still in production, and there for all the country to see are crate engines that are aimed specifically to those of us that are car crazy nuts. The absolute narrow minded will try to rationalize away the dominance of the small block Chev, sometimes to the point of silliness. Oh well, it takes all kinds. But remember, denial is not a river in Egypt. For a lot of very practical, and deserved, reasons, the small block Chev, just as it's Ford predecessors did, has established itself as a hot rod tradition. And like it or not, it's a 50 year tradition that still has legs.

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