The Ford Flathead V8 was the first mass-market V8 and the starting point for uniquely American performance. What's interesting about it is exactly what made it possible—simple and cheap to build—is ...

It was considered a major breakthrough when Ford launched its Flathead V8 engine in 1932. Up until that point, V8 engines were expensive and limited to just luxury cars, but Henry Ford wanted one that ...

For the first few decades of the 20th century, V8 engines were finicky, expensive things reserved for low-production luxury cars. Fancy pants Cadillacs and LaSalles were powered by V8s, while more ...

The Ford Flathead V8 wasn't the first V8, but when it debuted in the 1932 Model 18, it brought this brilliant engine configuration to the American masses. With a simple design featuring a flat ...

Aluminum heads not only look good, there are performance advantages as well. In most cases aluminum heads will raise compression, which helps throttle response. However bumping up the compression on a ...

Studebaker went 100% to futuristic overhead valves before American Motors, turns out. Some readers felt that Studebaker kept selling its 170-cubic-inch flathead six well into the 1960s, but 1960 ...

Produced from 1947 for the 1948 model year through 1952, the original F-Series line was offered with the venerable flathead engine. Named after the flat cylinder head, the side-valve V8 was replaced ...

Lou is a freelance journalist and content writer with a focus on the automotive world. After graduating from Coventry University (Automotive Journalism MA) in 2020, she worked in automotive e-commerce ...

Flathead V8 engines were the first mass-produced V8 engines sold in production cars, with Ford’s first example dating back to 1932. The flathead design is very simple; as the name implies, the ...

Seventy-five years ago, Henry Ford made automotive history by introducing an affordable V8 engine in the low-priced field. Legend has it, Mr. Ford hated Chevrolet, so he refused to have anything to do ...

Aluminum heads not only look good, there are performance advantages as well. In most cases aluminum heads will raise compression, which helps throttle response. However bumping up the compression on a ...