The Chrysler Hemi and Chevrolet big block did more than power quarter-mile passes. They became shorthand for two rival philosophies of American horsepower, each with its own mythology and fan base.

While there is some contention surrounding who produced the first muscle car, we can all agree that Chevrolet was certainly in the mix of it all during America's earliest muscle car days. In an effort ...

Hot rod builds a mouse trap and tries to catch a rat. Originally published in the August 1998 issue of Hot Rod magazine. To celebrate HOT ROD's 75th anniversary, we teamed up with CASTROL GTX to bring ...

Chevrolet loyalists have argued for generations about which engine family best captures the soul of the muscle car. On one side sits the compact small block that turned everyday Chevys into street ...

The Chevy 454 Big Block V8 is one of the most legendary powerplants in American automotive history. Known for its massive ...

Capable of producing massive torque with a proverbial yawn, the long-running big block from Chevy was born purely out of necessity in 1958, a few years after the small block. With cars getting heavier ...

This 427ci sleeper is a good reason why you don’t judge an engine by the size of its block. The art of deception plays a significant role in the hot rod world. Although most enthusiasts are ...

There are many ways that automakers, particularly American ones, categorize the V8 engines they produce. They can essentially be put into one of two categories: big-block engines and small-block ...

In the '60s, America developed some cool, advanced engines, such as Pontiac's overhead cam inline-6 or the jet-turbine in the Chrysler Turbine Car. Still, when push comes to shove, our first love is a ...