DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour      al@motorwayamerica.com

For the millions of us who are old enough to have had our Bar Mitzvahs in the 1950s and 1960s there was nothing more closely auto-related than the sweet sound and brute power of a high-performance V8. Forget that Cadillac produced the first mass-market V8 in 1914, they didn’t produce a 425 horsepower behemoth like Ford did in 1965.

The ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s marked the halcyon days of drag racing and the “mine is bigger than yours-era” of the monster V8s that were bolted to four-speed Muncie transmissions, 727 Torque Flight automatics and Ford’s unbreakable C6 automatics.

We couldn’t wait from year-to-year…and sometimes month-to-month, until one Detroit manufacturer would leapfrog another and kick in another 50 to100 cubic inches and 100-200 additional horsepower for their powerplants.

“Muscle cars” was more than a marketing term. Surely it was only a matter of time until you’d be able to find a new Ford Escort with a 1,100-horsepower V8. However; just like the meteors that struck the earth and ruined the dinosaurs’ day in a literal blaze of glory, so, too, did the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s, end the desire for what amounted to street-legal dragsters that on a good day and coasting downhill would get 4 miles per gallon. Take away our beloved big engines and you might as well load up deviled eggs with salmonella. What’s the point of living?

Next thing anyone knew, along came the K-Cars and sub-compact cars that promised gas mileage that doubled and even tripled the figures one would get from a 426 Hemi. And at first they performed what seemed like 200-300 times poorer than the V8’s did. However, as technology quickly increased, so, too did the horsepower ratings from a “lowly” four-cylinder engine. Many were equipped with turbochargers and other than sounding like they were ceiling fans run amok there was actually a slight feeling of power.

During that same era V6s were the new, evolving “big engines.” Their horsepower ratings were growing faster than some of the reworked four-cylinders. At the same time most domestic manufacturers still offered a V8 but in varying degrees of decreased power. Large four-barrels disappeared like the treasures in Al Capone’s vault, replaced with electronic fuel injection. It didn’t matter how much horsepower a 4 or 6-cylinder engine has, it would never sound like a full-throated V8.

Gasoline prices finally lowered and some manufacturers actually started producing some big-horsepower V8s, like Chrysler and Ford. GM produced a monster V8 for its Corvette and of course the imports came through. Even Hyundai produced a 375 horsepower (soon to be over 400 horsepower for 2011) V8 for its Genesis sedan.

However, look at some of the horsepower figures now for V6s. Some are approaching 400 horsepower – numbers unheard of during the early V6 days. Ford has developed an EcoBoost engine that gives the power of a much-larger V8 with the economy of aV6. It will soon have an EcoBoost 4-cylinder that will match the power of a much-larger V6 but conserve fuel like a four-cylinder engine.

Ask any of the auto manufacturers about their plans for any future V8s and except for some of the imports you won’t get much of an answer other than, “We’re evaluating that decision as we speak.” Trust me, people, the decision has already been made. Other than an obligatory V8 for a car like Mustang, Camaro, Corvette and Challenger, the “Land of a thousand V8s” is going to be inhabited by four, and V6-engines; and as gas prices continue to climb, well, future displacement is anybody’s guess.

The only place generations to come are going to be able to see a big-block V8 is in a museum or an issue of Hemming’s Muscle Cars Magazine. Furthermore, the only place V8s will eventually be sold is on Aisle 7 at your nearest Kroger’s, in the juice section.

Kind of breaks your heart; and to think, today is going to be someone’s “good old days."