List of AMC Engines - V8 Engines

V8 Engines

Prior to introducing an in-house designed V-8 AMC purchased V-8s from Packard. They were only used in 1955-56 Nash Ambassadors and Hudson Hornets. The 320 was used in 1955, 352 in 1956. Late in 1956 AMC introduced their GEN-1 design as a 250, used only in Ambassador and Hornet Specials. The Specials were actually the slightly smaller and lighter Statesman/Wasp two-door hardtop bodies with Ambassador/Hornet trim. The Packard engines were dropped after 1956. All Packard V8s came exclusively with the Packard Ultramatic automatic transmission. Packard UltramaticTransmission

AMC went through three generations of its V8 Block, though the most famous are its third generation blocks used in muscle cars. Generally, GEN-2 and 3 AMC V8s are considered "Small Block" due to exterior size and their maximum displacement. The GEN-1 engine is rather bulky and heavy for its displacement. It compares in size and weight to a "Big Block". Technically there is no "big" and "small" block AMC V8s—there was only one design in production at any given time. All AMC designed V8s share one thing—a common bore center of 4.75". This is the same as Chrysler Big Block V8s, and more similar to other big blocks than small blocks. Most other features, at least of the GEN-2 and GEN-3 models, are more typical of small block designs.