Re: It's real simple...
Duke and Verne-----
Yes, the Mark I big block engine ("W"-series) was first installed in BOTH passenger cars and trucks for the 1958 model year. It saw its final use for 1965. So, it was a quite "short-lived" engine design as engines go. GM must have lost money on that one. It's hard to imagine that the cost of design, development and tooling could have been amortized over such a short period with a relatively small number of engines produced.
As far as "big block" engines are concerned for Chevrolet, they have always pretty much relied on the "dual use" type of application (i.e. cars and trucks) to make them economically feasible. This was also true of the Mark IV. If there hadn't been BOTH car and truck applications planned at the time, I doubt that the engine would have "seen the light of day". It required the volume generated by both applications to cover the costs. Don't forget, the Mark IV was never widely used in passenger cars and I don't think that GM ever thought it would be. However, considering the passenger cars sales and the truck requirements, I suppose that a business case could be made for developing the engine.
After the passenger car applications for the Mark IV ended for good in 1975 and the truck installations greatly diminished, the big block engine languished. It was revised in 1992 for the so-called Mark V, again in 1996 for the so-called Mark or Gen VI, and once again in 2002 for the 8.1L. However, all of these engines are based on the Mark IV. They are really not new designs, at all. The volume of engines sold in this size range just would not be sufficient to justify developing a completely new engine. I think the "progeny" of the Mark IV will likely live on, perhaps throughout our lifetime, because there's just no viable way to replace it. In fact, it still stacks up very well against whatever the competition can throw at it.
In this day and age, even the development of the Gen III small block depended on use across both car and truck lines, with much more heavy emphasis on truck than at any time in the past (even the Mark I big block development). With so little V-8 engine application in passenger cars, there's no way the Gen III small block would have "seen the light of day" without the truck application and requirement and the need to have a competitive engine there. Were it not for trucks, I feel very sure that the Corvette would still be running the Gen I or II small block to this very day, regardless of the fact that Corvette was first to use the Gen III. The Gen III engine was NOT developed for Corvettes; it was developed for trucks and given to Corvette as a "launch platform".
Duke and Verne-----
Yes, the Mark I big block engine ("W"-series) was first installed in BOTH passenger cars and trucks for the 1958 model year. It saw its final use for 1965. So, it was a quite "short-lived" engine design as engines go. GM must have lost money on that one. It's hard to imagine that the cost of design, development and tooling could have been amortized over such a short period with a relatively small number of engines produced.
As far as "big block" engines are concerned for Chevrolet, they have always pretty much relied on the "dual use" type of application (i.e. cars and trucks) to make them economically feasible. This was also true of the Mark IV. If there hadn't been BOTH car and truck applications planned at the time, I doubt that the engine would have "seen the light of day". It required the volume generated by both applications to cover the costs. Don't forget, the Mark IV was never widely used in passenger cars and I don't think that GM ever thought it would be. However, considering the passenger cars sales and the truck requirements, I suppose that a business case could be made for developing the engine.
After the passenger car applications for the Mark IV ended for good in 1975 and the truck installations greatly diminished, the big block engine languished. It was revised in 1992 for the so-called Mark V, again in 1996 for the so-called Mark or Gen VI, and once again in 2002 for the 8.1L. However, all of these engines are based on the Mark IV. They are really not new designs, at all. The volume of engines sold in this size range just would not be sufficient to justify developing a completely new engine. I think the "progeny" of the Mark IV will likely live on, perhaps throughout our lifetime, because there's just no viable way to replace it. In fact, it still stacks up very well against whatever the competition can throw at it.
In this day and age, even the development of the Gen III small block depended on use across both car and truck lines, with much more heavy emphasis on truck than at any time in the past (even the Mark I big block development). With so little V-8 engine application in passenger cars, there's no way the Gen III small block would have "seen the light of day" without the truck application and requirement and the need to have a competitive engine there. Were it not for trucks, I feel very sure that the Corvette would still be running the Gen I or II small block to this very day, regardless of the fact that Corvette was first to use the Gen III. The Gen III engine was NOT developed for Corvettes; it was developed for trucks and given to Corvette as a "launch platform".
Comment