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Before there was a Lincoln V8, there was a Chevy V8

Four score and seven years ago, Chevy manufactured its first V8. (In other words, before the “mouse” or “rat”, there was a “guinea pig”.)

This may come as a shock to those of you who thought that all Chevy made until 1955 were fours and stovebolt sixes. It even had overhead valves, a cutting edge bit of engineering for its time, and, although short-lived, the 1917 V8 was to be the most powerful engine from Chevrolet division for years after it was discontinued.

Chevrolet remained technically an independent company in 1917, and the idea of adding a V8 to their model line (literally months before the formation of the Lincoln Motor Company) was rather a “join the bandwagon” kind of thing, as there were over a dozen other makes already on the market with V8 engines. A fairly large car with 120″ wheelbase, it was a sales dud, and production of the 288 cubic inch Series D V-8 ceased late in 1918, coincidentally the same year that Chevrolet became an official member of the General Motors group.