You’ll have to travel back in time to 1949 to fully appreciate the next engine on our list, but at least you’ll be able to pick up a gorgeous Cadillac for about $3,000 while you’re there. The Series 62 club coupe shown above cost just $2,900, and the convertible was $500 more. They were both powered by Cadillac’s new 331 cubic inch V8, which had vertically tapered combustion chambers like the Dodge Max Wedge muscle car that came along more than two decades later.
The Cadillac 331 was the brand’s first overhead valve engine and replaced a 346 cubic inch Flathead. The 331’s output of 160 horsepower seems low by modern standards, but it was the most powerful engine available at the time and was strong enough to earn the 1949 Cadillac the inaugural Motor Trend Car of the Year Award. Cadillac’s 331-inch V8 helped usher in the large bore, short stroke design of the Chevy and Ford 302 V8s of the late ’60s and helped Briggs Cunningham pilot a Coupe De Ville to a 10th place finish in the 1950 24 Hours of LeMans.
