QOTD: How Long Will the V8 Live?

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Ford said a few days ago that it plans to keep the V8 alive for as long as it can, even as the world moves towards more electrification.

How long will that be?


To be clear, we're talking about the V8 specifically, not the internal-combustion engine. I think the ICE will last a long time, thanks to the fact that four-cylinders and V6s pack more punch now. Also, there will be a lot of hybrids/PHEVs on the market until the day we go full EV -- a day that is probably a lot further off than many think -- and of course, those powertrains use an ICE as part of their setup.

But the eight-cylinder engine is already mostly limited to performance vehicles and trucks/SUVs. And we're already seeing turbocharged V6s replace V8s in some trucks/utility vehicles.

V8 sports cars are also fewer in number than they used to be.

So, given what's happening in the market, how long can the V8 last?

Sound off below.

[Image: Ford]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • SilverHawk SilverHawk on Aug 04, 2023

    Most states will soon limit the yearly milage a vintage vehicle can drive, so I figure the old Studebaker V8s will last into the 22nd century. If we see a rise in the use of hydrogen, they might last even longer. It costs nothing to dream.

    • Jeff S Jeff S on Aug 05, 2023

      Curious do you have a Studebaker and if so what kind and what year? I am old enough to remember them and my father had one back in the 50s as a second car. I would think hydrogen or a cleaner fuel would burn cleaner and make the engine last longer.



  • SilverHawk SilverHawk on Aug 05, 2023

    @jeff s - Today I'm down to one. A 1964 Daytona 2dr hardtop with a V8. I've owned many of the brand's cars & trucks but they're harder to find now and over the years, I've turned to Mopars because I know the engines well. I generally stick with what I know to keep costs down.

    • Jeff S Jeff S on Aug 05, 2023

      Nice car. Thanks for the reply. My father had 2 Studebakers one after he married my mother a 40 Studebaker President coupe which he sold once WW II broke out and he joined the FBI the other a white 58 Studebaker Scotsman 2 door with the only visor being on the driver's side, 3 on the tree, no radio, and one windshield wiper on the driver's side with the only extra equipment being a heater. My older brother beat that car to death causing my father to sell it and order a new 62 Chevy II 300 4 door sedan. My older brother was very hard on my parent's vehicles. The irony was when he had his own kids he made them buy their own vehicles because he didn't want them to tear his car up. I always took care of my parents cars washing and waxing them (waxing both cars every 3 months), changing the oil and filter, tune ups, and anything else they needed as a condition of me being able to use them whenever I needed them. I used that red 62 Chevy II 300 straight 6 with Powerglide that managed to survive my older brother and then my middle brother. My older brother did manage to tear the front wheels off that Chevy II when it was new by hitting an open manhole and the dealer did not have the rims in stock so they put rims from a Chevy II wagon on it. Keeping an alignment on that Chevy II was hard after my older brother and the idler arms and ball joints had to be replaced a number of times.



  • Art_Vandelay Art_Vandelay on Aug 05, 2023

    If Shevolay and Dodge can't do it, clearly nobody can

  • Luke42 Luke42 on Nov 25, 2023

    I still own a V8 (in a hybrid drivetrain), and it's the last one I'll ebwr own. The hybrid drivetrain attenuates a lot of the things that suck about driving a V8, but it's still a lot of sound, fury, and fuel for very little beneform


    My next car purchase will be to replace this pickup truck with similarly capable EV, possibly a Silverado EV WT4 (or better).


    After that, I'm done with V8s forever.


    I don't care what the rest of y'all do, but my last V8 was made in 2010. That's when the V8 era ended for me.

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