Chevy Just Revived Three V8 Numbers Every American Truck Guy Has Known Since Birth
GM wrote off over $7 billion in EV losses and suspended its electric truck program this spring.
Now the same company just announced brand new Silverado V8s built on the architecture they were supposedly replacing.
The three sizes Chevy just stamped on those new engines are the same ones that powered your grandfather's Silverado.
The 350 Is Back and It Brought Two Legendary Companions
Three displacement numbers that haven't shared a Chevy lineup in decades are officially back: 350, 400, and 409 cubic inches.
The 350 – a 5.7-liter small block that debuted in the 1967 Camaro – powered everything from C10 pickups and Corvettes to Chevelles and muscle cars for three straight decades.
Tens of millions were built over that production run, making the 350 the most versatile and beloved V8 in American automotive history.
It disappeared from the Silverado when GM redesigned the truck for the 1999 model year – the moment the 5.3-liter took over and the older engine was set aside.
For the first time since that changeover, a 5.3-liter V8 won't be available in the Silverado at all.
The new 5.7-liter is that engine's direct replacement, arriving in the 2027 Silverado alongside a 6.6-liter companion – a displacement that rounds to an even 400 cubic inches, reviving a number last seen on a factory small-block in 1980.
The third member of this reunion is the LS6 – a 6.7-liter V8 announced earlier this year for the 2027 Corvette Grand Sport that translates to exactly 409 cubic inches.
The original 409 big-block made the early 1960s Chevrolet Impala famous, inspired a Beach Boys song, and defined Chevrolet as the performance brand of an entire decade.
Three numbers that belong on the Mount Rushmore of American V8 history – all back in production simultaneously.
GM Just Became the Only Automaker With Genuinely New V8s
The 2027 Silverado arrives with four engine options, but the V8 story is the one that matters.
The outgoing 5.3-liter produced 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque – and industry sources indicate the new 5.7-liter could push toward 400 horsepower.
The outgoing 6.2-liter made 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft, and the larger 6.6-liter is expected to exceed those figures significantly, with sources pointing toward approximately 475 horsepower.
Chevy is claiming no other half-ton truck will offer more naturally aspirated V8 power when that 6.6-liter arrives.
Mark Dickens, Silverado's chief engineer, said GM put the new engines through rigorous towing and real-world testing before the announcement – validating them against the full range of demands Silverado owners actually put on their trucks.
GM says it also addressed the reliability concerns that damaged trust with previous V8s – insourcing key engine components and investing in upgraded production facilities.
These engines are being built at North American facilities – Tonawanda, New York, and St. Catharines, Ontario, with the Corvette's LS6 already rolling out of Flint, Michigan.
Every other player in the half-ton V8 conversation is recycling old material right now.
Ford's 5.0-liter has been the F-150's V8 option for over a decade.
Ram reached back to its previous-generation Hemi for its latest truck – not a new engine, just a familiar nameplate.
GM is spending real money on genuinely new V8 technology in the half-ton segment, and it's the only one doing it.
The Market Corrected What Washington Got Wrong
America's truck buyers just won a fight the corporate boardrooms told them they couldn't win.
For years, GM – alongside the Biden administration and an activist regulatory apparatus – pushed the narrative that the gas-powered truck was obsolete and that the electric future was non-negotiable.
The customers said otherwise.
GM's EV truck sales plunged 43% in Q4 2025 – the same quarter President Trump eliminated the $7,500 federal EV tax credit that had been propping up those numbers.
Without government money masking the real sticker price, the Silverado EV sold roughly 1,400 units in the entire first quarter of 2026.
GM sold over 600,000 total vehicles in that same period.
Now the same company that wrote off $7.6 billion chasing that mandate is bringing back the 350.
Chevrolet started developing these new engines back in 2023 – the same year GM was still loudly promising an all-electric future by 2035.
The truck buyers who never wavered weren't being nostalgic or stubborn.
They were right.
The V8 isn't a relic – it's back stronger, more powerful, and carrying the three displacement numbers that defined American performance.
Sources:
- Byron Hurd, "Chevy Now Makes New 350, 400, and 409 V8s – Just Like the Old Days," The Drive, June 16, 2026.
- Caleb Jacobs, "2027 Chevy Silverado Enters the Fight With New Small-Block V8s, Fresh Looks," The Drive, June 16, 2026.
- Staff, "2027 Silverado, Sierra: Are These Gen 6 V8 Power Numbers?," GM Authority, June 2026.
- Staff, "2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Revealed with New V8s," Kelley Blue Book, June 16, 2026.
- Staff, "Chevrolet's Best-Selling Vehicle Gets a Big Redesign (And Two Big V8s)," CarBuzz, June 16, 2026.
