March 31: Henry Ford reveals the first affordable V-8 on this date in 1932

By late 1931, Chevrolet had finally surpassed Ford in sales, and with Model A production ending in August of that year, the public and Ford dealers had little idea about what Henry Ford would do next. In fact, Ford had set his engineers to work for the previous two years on a new engine design, one that would offer far more power than the four and six-cylinders in other models but still be affordable. After experimenting with 8 cylinders in an X layout, Henry Ford chose to build a 90-degree V-8, contributing ideas with engineer Charles Sorensen and others.

The results were revealed on this date in 1932, when Ford announced the new engine and a new model, which was soon simply known as the Ford V-8 as well. Ford's 65 hp engine was the big bang of American hot-rodding — cheap, powerful and easily modified — and was used in one form or another around the world until 1990. Here's Ford's own promotional film from 1932; the first copy, shown above and being stamped by Ford himself below, now rests in The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Mich.