When introduced on upper-level Chevrolet models in 1950, the Powerglide represented the first automatic transmission offered in a low-priced automobile. It was available primarily on Chevrolet from January 1950 through 1973, although some Pontiac models also used this automatic transmission after the fire at the Hydra-Matic factory in 1953.
The Chevrolet Series C Classic Six was much larger, more powerful, more stylized and also more expensive than the cars that would ultimately replace it. Louis Chevrolet loved it, but William Durant had a cheaper car in mind.
Chevrolet introduced a mechanical fuel injection option for its 283 V8 engine in 1956 (1957 U.S. model year). This system directed the inducted engine air across a "spoon shaped" plunger that moved in proportion to the air volume. The plunger connected to the fuel metering system that mechanically dispensed fuel to the cylinders via distribution tubes. This system was not a "pulse" or intermittent injection, but rather a constant flow system, metering fuel to all cylinders simultaneously from a central "spider" of injection lines.
The first 300 were built by hand in Flint, Michigan in 1953, shortly after the Corvette was unveiled as a "dream car" in the Motorama show in New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Unlike a pickup truck, the El Camino was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body.
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