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 ...

The following story appeared in the November 2005 issue of HOT ROD magazine and has been supplemented with additional photos from the HOT ROD Archives and Getty Images. It has also been sequenced here ...

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 ...

V8s are about as close as you can get to a "default" American engine. The Chevy Small Block V8 is one of the most versatile engines ever produced and it's been swapped into cars and trucks practically ...

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 ...