Chevy's Vortec 8100 — AKA the L18, AKA the Vortec 8.1 — was the last of The General's big block V8s, a line of engines that traced its lineage clear back to the fire-breathing muscle cars of the '60s ...

With 50-plus years of development behind them, big displacement engines like General Motors' 8.1-liter Vortec V8 and Dodge's 8.0-liter Magnum V10 were two of the largest engines ever placed in ...