From trucks and RVs to boats, Chevy's 8.1L Vortec powered heavy-duty machines with massive torque. Here's what defined GM's final big block engine.

The late 1960s were the height of the muscle car wars. Automakers from Detroit were locked in a horsepower and torque battle, with each brand trying to outdo the other. For Chevrolet, this was an era ...

Chevy's Vortec 8100 — AKA the L18, AKA the Vortec 8.1 — was the last of The General's big block V8s, a line of engines that traced its lineage clear back to the fire-breathing muscle cars of the '60s ...

Chevrolet has had many accomplishments over the years, from being the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history to producing the world's first affordable fully automatic transmission. However, one ...

Big block engines might have been a product of the golden age of the muscle car, but these robust designs outlasted their high-performance progenitors by shifting over to the truck world, where their ...

Since its introduction in 1955, the small-block Chevrolet has been celebrated in word, picture, song, dyno test, and bank deposit. For over 30 years, it has reigned as the nation's most popular and ...

1971 was not one for the graduation albums of anyone in Detroit. Big and small automakers were served the low-compression-only course from the federal government. Basically, lead and gasoline could no ...