Categories: This Day

September 18, 1955 – The 2 millionth Ford V8 engine is produced

1932 Ford Model 18 V8

On this day in 1955 Ford produced its 2 millionth Flathead V8 engine, 23 years after its introduction in the 1932 Model 18. The valve-in-block design was the first independently manufactured V8 from Ford. The first Ford Flatheads had a displacement of 221 cubic inches and made 65 horsepower. Those V8s can be identified by the water pumps located at the front of the heads.

Production of that 221 lasted from 1932 to 1939 before being replaced by the 239, which pumped out 95 horsepower. The original Flathead Ford V8 design was discontinued in 1953, with the two millionth V8 being a second generation engine.

Ford V8 in a Thunderbird

Brian Corey

Recent Posts

April 24, 1957 – Origins of the Nissan Skyline

Prince Skyline. By I, 天然ガス, CC BY-SA 3.0 When it comes to JDM cars, one…

6 hours ago

April 23, 1947 – The 1,000,000th Packard is built

1947 Packard Super Custom (Not the actual 1,000,000th Packard. By Rex Gray- fvr2, CC BY…

1 day ago

April 22, 1996 – Mercedes SLK class debuts at Turin

Since its inception, the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class (R170) has epitomized the essence of a compact luxury…

2 days ago

April 21, 1983 – C4 Corvette is introduced

The C4 Chevrolet Corvette, which debuted nationally on this day in 1983, marked a significant…

3 days ago

April 16, 2014: Mazda Honors a Quarter-Century of Driving Joy with the 25th Anniversary MX-5 Miata

By Alexander-93 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132180377 On April 16, 2014, the vibrant…

1 week ago

April 15, 1964 – Who bought the first Mustang?

On this day in 1964, two days before the official Ford Mustang on-sale date, one…

1 week ago