Even though not all of us hate the V8 engines of the 1970s, the fact that our parents had to put up with the low power numbers that were supposed to come out of the largest engines on the market. Our parents had a hate affair with the cars that were coming from Japan, but those cars were the ones that were quickly proving our American stubbornness to be wrong. This combination caused many of us to watch as our parents were dismayed by the vehicles they had to drive.
Looking back and taking the Camaro as an example, in 1975 the Camaro offered only 145 horsepower from the 5.7-liter engine with the two-barrel carburetor or 155 when the four-barrel was used. The move to unleaded gasoline and the testing of vehicles with all the horsepower killing items attached caused this to be the world of the parents of those born in the 1970s. Not only did we see poor power numbers for the V8 engines of the time but we saw a barrage of imports that would prove to be more capable than our own builds. The VW Golf, Mk1 Honda Civic, Datsun B210 and Toyota Corolla were all badged as hated by those who wanted to feel more patriotic to the domestic products.
By the time this generation reached the age where they were able to drive, typically in the early 1990s, the imports were still running more power than the 1975 Camaro offered. This is even after going through the 1980s, which have been marked as the dark days of horsepower for vehicles. These young teens who were just receiving their licenses saw the Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo with 200 horsepower, the MK2 Jetta with more power and even the Mitsubishi and Chrysler engines offered more power but from only a four-cylinder build. These vehicles gave us more fuel mileage, a very important factor for a teenager with their first job, and were faster than the Camaro that parents had cared for over the past two decades.
Even though the V8 engines continue on in many vehicles those who watched parents with their wasteful machines wondered how they could continue to toss money down the drain or put so many emissions in to the air. The reality is the same engine that powered that Camaro that turned out to be such an awful machine overall is the same engine that was used in many trucks throughout the ages to be the engine that powered the machines that brought the supplies, built different structures and helped to create the world around us.
The problem is many of us feel we need to be of one mind about the engines of the time of yesteryear and admire the smaller but mightier builds found in the 1990s and beyond. the simple truth is you can admire both equally. The massive power V8 engines still have a place for getting work done and are tuned so much better than ever to be awesome power plants of today that we can’t ignore their place in the world, but many smaller engines are now fitting into sports cars in a way we never thought possible.
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