Why GM Stopped Making Brand-Specific V8 Engines – Jalopnik

You’re probably guessing that the disappearance of division-exclusive V8s has something to do with General Motor’s declining market share in recent decades, and yes, that’s a factor. In 1963, GM had more than 50% of the U.S. auto market, while Ford and Chrysler battled for second place in the corner, the report said. American Business Institute. Checker and Amphicar sat nearby and enjoyed the show. American Motors Corporation (AMC) and Studebaker lay unconscious on the ground.

Then GM’s market share dropped to 40% in 1970 and fluctuated throughout the 1970s, never reaching 50% again. In 1986 the value fell below 40%, then below 30% in 1998 and finally below 20% in 2010. Now Carvana’s value is higher than GM’s. But boiling it down to “GM didn’t have as much money to develop engines as they used to” ignores other factors. The starting point may have been 1970, when emissions regulations and insurance costs began to clamp down on high-po V8s. The exotic V8s that the divisions prototyped went “poof”, including Pontiac’s overhead cam V8s and Oldsmobile’s 32-valve W-43 455.

Power and compression dropped on the big V8s and smaller engines started to take over. By the time GM reined in all division-specific V8 engines in the late 1970s, literally a dozen engines were produced in various configurations. Developing and producing these engines took a lot of money, as the vibrating Chevrolet 2300 leak factory and the mediocre-yet-unkillable Pontiac Iron Duke didn’t come from nowhere. Furthermore, GM vehicles were selling like gangbusters, with market share rising back to 46% by 1976. Wait, that last bit sounds like good news, right? Well, keeping up with demand put a strain on engine production, resulting in a class action lawsuit (more on that soon).

Economies of scale favored GM in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the number of engines was small, allowing development dollars to be spread out. In 1959, Chevrolet made three engines: the inline-six, the small-block V8, and the W-series big-block V8, and they were distributed to 1.4 million cars. In 1976, Chevy sold 2.1 million cars, but also made nine different engines. That’s too many engines consuming development and production resources. GM took a long, hard look at all the V8 engines its divisions produced, and began to sober up to the reality that there was a lot of overlap.

So in the late 1970s, the Pontiac/Buick/Oldsmobile 455 V8s were retired, the Cadillac 500 went to the dumpster, Pontiac’s 400 rode off into the sunset, and the small block Chevy 400 was dropped off at a farm he was very happy with. These engines also became increasingly difficult to certify due to increasingly strict emissions regulations. Slowly but surely, the V8s were quietly eradicated from the unique division, until by the 1990s all that was left were Chevy small blocks in a few select displacements, Chevy big blocks mostly in 454 form, and whatever V8s Cadillac wanted to make at the time, including the meh-inducing HT 4.9 and frustratingly undurable Northstar V8s.

Another key moment that led to widespread brand blurring was the Oldsmobile/Chevy 350 debacle. In March 1977, Joseph Siwek of Chicago took his recently purchased Oldsmobile Delta 88 for service, but his mechanic told him that the car’s engine was a Chevy 350 and not a 350 Oldsmobile Rocket V8. Marketing materials advertised the car as being available with a 350 V8, but conveniently left out which one.

Let’s unpack this comedy of errors. Oldsmobile sales exceeded a million in 1977, and the Lansing engine plant could not keep up with demand. So Oldsmobile V8s were reserved for California cars, where they were certified for that state’s emissions (they also went into cars sold in high-altitude states), and 49 state-approved Chevy 350s could be used anywhere else. Yes, Chevy 350s and Oldsmobile 350s are so different, but not so different that GM couldn’t paint all its V8s blue in 1977, so it wouldn’t be visually obvious.

Unless you happened to notice that the L34 Olds V8 or the LM1 Chevy V8 was on your order form, you would be none the wiser. Well, at least until your mechanic noticed that your new Olds fan belt and oil filter wouldn’t fit your Chevrolet engine. A class action lawsuit followed. GM made a mistake and changed its advertising to reflect the source of each engine, then refunded $550 to Oldsmobile owners who bought a car with a Chevy 350 before the ad update.

Once the cat was out of the bag that there were no more brand-specific powertrains, why would we continue making custom V8s, especially V8s like the Cadillac 500 and Pontiac 400, which struggled to meet emissions regulations and made little power? So GM became a kind of kindergarten; everyone had to play nice and start sharing.

But GM found itself in this situation. By promoting brand hierarchy, buyers’ expectations were that each division was largely unique. Pontiac emphasized excitement, Cadillac represented luxury, Chevrolet was the volume brand, etc. As market share decreased due to increased competition, emissions regulations forced more compliance, and new engines with different layouts required development dollars, allowing each division to pour money into unique V8 engines.