- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Motorbooks International (1 April 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0760321035
- ISBN-13: 978-0760321034
- Product Dimensions: 31 x 27.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,555,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
There are two types of automotive media books in this world. The better ones are written by knowlegable, longtime fans who do some serious legwork to bring you a wonderfully written story on the subject presented. The others come form those who rewrite easily accessible facts and numbers, slap their name on the cover and declare themselves experts. Fortunatley, this book falls into the former category. Mike Mueller has not only spent some serious time in the driver's seat, he's spent just as much time talking to the men who made the small-block what it is: the real 'Heartbeat of America'. The photography - some GM staock, some not - is clear, well-lit and in focus (and it presents some of the story's best subject matter), while the story is a well-written account of the downfalls and accomplishments of this top-selling motor...If you're looking for a worthwhile addition to your collection - or a cornerstone for a new one - Chevy Small-Block V 8 could be the book for you. --Vette magazine
Product Description
Celebrating half a century of the most popular hot rod motor of all time. Since its introduction in 1955, the Chevrolet smail-block V-8 has been one of America's most popular, powerful, and desirable engines. Small-blocks have powered everything from Corvettes and hot rods to family sedans, stock cars, drag racers, Trans-Am cars, and racing boats. It remains the leading performance engine of choice and today generates as much as 450 horsepower in Corvettes. Chevy Small-Block V-8 50 Years of High Performance traces the long; rich history of this milestone powerplant. The detailed chronological record is complemented by sidebars that spotlight the engineers who created the engine and cover its place in pop culture, racing, and important cars. All of Chevrolet's premier, small-block-powered motors are featured, including Tri-Chevys ('55, '56, '57), Corvette, Camaro, Chevelle, impala, pickups, and more.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
An excellent book detailing the history of the iconic V8 automobile engine, The ubiquitous Chevolet small block. This basic engine has featured in Chevolet cars for fifty years using the same overall dimensions to give displacements from the original 256cu.in. all the way to 427cu.in. This book is highly informative with detailed text throughout. A 'must have' for anyone interested in the subject along with the beautiful photographs of numerous chevy cars from the last fifty years.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Good Engine Book that Could have been Great
29 Aug 2005
Format:Hardcover
This is not like most engine books you or I have read.
What makes Mike Muller's <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> different is it's not all motorhead, tech-heavy stuff. Not that techie titles are bad, mind you-hard-core, wrench turners eat that stuff up, but this book is a standout for its "soft-core tech" presented in a readable manner by an author who writes in an accessible style.
Read it and you'll have a good understanding of how an automotive engine, for god's sake, became a cultural icon. Oh, yeah--Muller covers the obligatory stuff: the Small-Block Chevy's design, technical specifications, its half-century plus evolution-stuff typical of many engine books. What makes this title a dandy bedtime read is the rest of the stuff-the "fluff," so to speak.
I enjoyed the content non-technical Corvetters will get off on: stories of people who created the mystique surrounding the Small-Block Chevy. Smoky Yunick, Bill Jenkins, Dave McLellan, Dale Earnhardt, Ed Cole, Tom McCahill and Zora Duntov are just some in this book.
Engines aren't much good sitting on a stand. The few which become legends get there because they were installed in a vehicle. Mr. Muller writes of the amazing variety of vehicles powered by SBCs. Sure, there are Corvettes, Chevelles and Camaros. There are pick-up trucks and hot rods too. Race cars abound. There is even a SB-powered Porsche and a little about boat engines but most outlandish has to be the "Boss Hoss" Small-Block-powered motorcycle. It's this eclectic mix of vehicles which have iconized Chevrolet's engine and this book covers a lot of them.
My experience with <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> was mixed. I liked it for the reasons given but, one problem keeps this book from being excellent. I hate to say it but, considering the book's $40 price tag, there are too many mistakes in it.
In a discussion of the early-'70s shift to unleaded gasoline, the book claims that pre-1971, high-compression engines ran on "jet fuel." Not even. Jet fuel is a low-octane product related to diesel fuel and kerosine not high-octane gas. The 1984 Corvette is listed as having either 200 or 205-hp. The correct number is 205. Tires on a 1994-96 Impala SS are listed as "225/50ZR". They were 255/50ZR17s and that error was in a caption next to a picture showing an Impala tire with the size visible on the side wall. In a 1990 ZR-1 discussion, the book states "David Hill's gang" was responsible for the car. Actually, he had no role in the ZR-1 development. He was working at Cadillac at the time. Weak proof reading? I'll say! In a book costing 40 bucks? Unacceptable! Motorbooks should have done better.
In spite of the marginal fact checking and proofreading, this book still can have a place on your coffee table, I suppose. Most people look at coffee table books rather reading them, and, when it comes to looking, an outstanding feature of this book is photography.
To hit a homerun with a second edition of <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> Motorbooks needs to fact check and proof read.
What makes Mike Muller's <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> different is it's not all motorhead, tech-heavy stuff. Not that techie titles are bad, mind you-hard-core, wrench turners eat that stuff up, but this book is a standout for its "soft-core tech" presented in a readable manner by an author who writes in an accessible style.
Read it and you'll have a good understanding of how an automotive engine, for god's sake, became a cultural icon. Oh, yeah--Muller covers the obligatory stuff: the Small-Block Chevy's design, technical specifications, its half-century plus evolution-stuff typical of many engine books. What makes this title a dandy bedtime read is the rest of the stuff-the "fluff," so to speak.
I enjoyed the content non-technical Corvetters will get off on: stories of people who created the mystique surrounding the Small-Block Chevy. Smoky Yunick, Bill Jenkins, Dave McLellan, Dale Earnhardt, Ed Cole, Tom McCahill and Zora Duntov are just some in this book.
Engines aren't much good sitting on a stand. The few which become legends get there because they were installed in a vehicle. Mr. Muller writes of the amazing variety of vehicles powered by SBCs. Sure, there are Corvettes, Chevelles and Camaros. There are pick-up trucks and hot rods too. Race cars abound. There is even a SB-powered Porsche and a little about boat engines but most outlandish has to be the "Boss Hoss" Small-Block-powered motorcycle. It's this eclectic mix of vehicles which have iconized Chevrolet's engine and this book covers a lot of them.
My experience with <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> was mixed. I liked it for the reasons given but, one problem keeps this book from being excellent. I hate to say it but, considering the book's $40 price tag, there are too many mistakes in it.
In a discussion of the early-'70s shift to unleaded gasoline, the book claims that pre-1971, high-compression engines ran on "jet fuel." Not even. Jet fuel is a low-octane product related to diesel fuel and kerosine not high-octane gas. The 1984 Corvette is listed as having either 200 or 205-hp. The correct number is 205. Tires on a 1994-96 Impala SS are listed as "225/50ZR". They were 255/50ZR17s and that error was in a caption next to a picture showing an Impala tire with the size visible on the side wall. In a 1990 ZR-1 discussion, the book states "David Hill's gang" was responsible for the car. Actually, he had no role in the ZR-1 development. He was working at Cadillac at the time. Weak proof reading? I'll say! In a book costing 40 bucks? Unacceptable! Motorbooks should have done better.
In spite of the marginal fact checking and proofreading, this book still can have a place on your coffee table, I suppose. Most people look at coffee table books rather reading them, and, when it comes to looking, an outstanding feature of this book is photography.
To hit a homerun with a second edition of <u>Chevy Small-Block V8</u> Motorbooks needs to fact check and proof read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Pretty good Book.
2 Feb 2009
Format:Hardcover
Nice Hardcover Book, Good Layout, Some pics I have seen before In mueller books, Other I have not. Pretty Good Book Overall that I was able to get for a Bargain rate.I would recommend it to any chevy buff like myself along with Anthony Young's Small Block Chevrolet Muscle car Color history,Mbi 1992 and Anthony young big block Chevrolet Muscle Car Color History 1993,mbi.
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