General Motors Co. The roots of today s pushrod engines stretch back to the post-war years.
Contemplating the advantages of the pushrod-actuated overhead valve engine design in what appears to be the twilight of internal combustion might sound as anachronistic as a quick look at the value of coal-fired steam locomotives.
But design advances in these engines, particularly the larger-displacement V8 variety beloved by American drivers and automakers alike, mean that these engines boast advantages that seem certain to keep them relevant until the very end of combustion power.
Let’s start with some definitions. Overhead valve pushrod engines marked an advance over their predecessors, the flathead engines whose valves are located in the engine block alongside the cylinder. The Ford flathead V8 and the classic Briggs & Stratton power equipment engine are well-known examples.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
All over the U.S., dealer associations and automakers are gearing up for dozens of auto expos in markets as modest as Charleston, W. Va., a metro area of just over 200,000 people, to Orange County, Calif., where more vehicles are sold than in 24 states individually.
Before the coronavirus halted consumer auto shows in March 2020, visitors were still flocking to convention centers and state fairs to comparison shop in what is often a combination of family fun and seat-of-the-pants research.
Foresight Research estimates that 11 million people attended U.S. auto shows during the 2018-19 season. Traditionally, the season has run from September to April. Those attendance numbers had held steady for several years until the pandemic canceled most 2020 events, said the Michigan-based data firm.
Todayâs Highlight in History:
On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.
On this date:
In 1840, composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia.
In 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.
In 1928, the minimum voting age for British women was lowered from 30 to 21 â the same age as men.
In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
In 1946, Sony Corp. had its beginnings as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp. was founded in the Japanese capital by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka.