Chevy Thunder coming to Amelia Island Concours

Images courtesy of Canepa
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emailBy Vintage Motorsport | April 30, 2021 12:54 PM

The May 23 Amelia Island Concours will feature a special class dedicated to Chevy power, and will also offer a May 21 seminar hosted by Ray Evernham with panelists George Follmer, David Hobbs, Brian Redman, Herb Fishel and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Known for its 11 Indy 500 victories and 24 Daytona 500 wins, Chevy’s small blocks, big blocks and dedicated pure racing engines set records dominating practically every type of American motorsport for more than half a century.

Chevy’s small block V8 of 1955 is the elegantly simple engineering masterpiece that gave an almost effortless mobility to generations of American families. It also inspired and drove hot rodders and race car builders. Chevy small block power even sat on the front row of the Indy 500 (1981), outran the fabled Offys on America’s dirt tracks and ruled NASCAR’s high banks, short tracks and road courses. (The fuel-injected Chevy small block was so dominant in NASCAR racing during 1957 that it was banned.)

 

Small block Chevy Thunder enjoyed international reach, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 1000km of the Nürburgring, the BOAC 6 Hours at Brands Hatch, owned the Can-Am (at one point winning 33 consecutive races), scored the inaugural IMSA GTO championship in 1971 and the IMSA GTP title in 1984.

In NHRA Pro Stock competition, Chevy won the national title 24 times, more than any other manufacturer.

“The design and execution of Chevy’s V8 engines, especially the ‘small block’, is elegant without being exotic or exclusive,” said Bill Warner, founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “Simplicity, lightness, flexibility, compactness and economy are its core strengths. It’s served long and well. And of course there’s that unmistakable sound. Anyone who’s ever attended a drag race, a NASCAR race, a Trans-Am or a Can-Am has heard, and sometimes felt, Chevy Thunder. It’s the clear and unmistakable voice of American motorsports.”