Chevrolet 350 Engine Specs

The Chevrolet 350 is the best-known and most widely recognized member of the traditional small-block V8 family. Introduced in 1967, it became the default Chevrolet V8 for generations of cars, trucks, boats, race builds, and engine swaps. More than any other classic small-block version, the 350 is the engine that turned Chevrolet V8 performance into something almost universal.

Chevrolet developed the 350 as a broad-use small-block that could serve everything from everyday transportation to serious high-performance applications. It kept the familiar cast-iron pushrod architecture, timing chain drive, and huge interchangeability of the small-block family, but its 5.7-liter displacement gave it a balance of torque, drivability, and upgrade potential that proved almost impossible to beat. Depending on year and version, factory power ranged from roughly 145 HP in low-output emissions-era trim to 370 HP in high-performance variants such as the early LT1.

In real-world use, the 350 earned its fame by being easy to own, easy to modify, and easy to fit into almost anything. It is not the rarest or most exotic Chevrolet V8, but it may be the most useful. That combination of flexibility, availability, and aftermarket support is exactly why the 350 became a legend far beyond Chevrolet circles.