GENERAL MOTORS FINISHED THE LONG RUN OF THE BIG BLOCK ENGINE on December 18 when the last V8 came down the line at the Tonowanda, New York, engine plant. The final L18, the current version, was signed by each of the line workers that were there that day and then it will be sent to the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
The first generation of the big block was designed in 1958 and went into production the next year, leading to 50 years of growth and design improvements on 5.1 million engines produced. The Tonawanda plant near Buffalo was where they were made, but the big block had slipped to only 3% of all engine production for GM as sales trend to smaller and more fuel-efficient automobiles. Most of the recent customers were RV and speedboat builders.
The V8 was the main power plant for the Corvette, Camaro and the Chevy Impala. The L18 went into production in 1999. The Tonawanda plant is still operating, producing 4-cylinder engines for the Chevy Cobalt and the Malibu. They also build a 5-cylinder engine.
The Niagara Gazette has a good backround story on the engine and the local factory HERE.
The Buffalo News has MORE.
WIVB-TV Ch. 4 Buffalo has a nice video report:
