Content area
Full Text
Two requisites for a successful sports car are power and performance, and at its inception, the Corvette was criticized for lacking a little of both. Designers, looking to use off-the-shelf components, were forced to install retooled "Stovebolt Six" engines in the first Corvettes. A 1930's design, the 235.5-cu-in. engine cranked out only 115 hp before Chevy's engineers got at it.
After being fitted with three carburetors and a modified head, it was rechristened the "Blue Flame Six." It boasted 150 hp, and could power the Corvette from 0 to 60 mph in 11 seconds and give it a top speed of 105 mph. Although fast by 1954 standards, critics still considered it underpowered.
Beginning in 1955, however, a replacement engine was ready. It was the legendary 265-cu-in. "Turbo-Fire" V8. Forty pounds lighter than the Blue Flame Six, it produced 25% more horsepower and had a top speed of 120 mph. The new engine was Chevy's second attempt at building a V8. Its first effort, a failure, had been back in 1917. The Turbo-Fire, however, proved so successful that a refined version of that engine still provides Corvettes their get-up-and-go.
Improvements to the Turbo-Fire in 1956,...