Rocket science: Oldsmobile's great VB

When Oldsmobile's Rocket motor made its debut in 1949, no other manufacturer had an overhead-valve VS. But they soon would. Trying to imagine American cars without their large, lazy, highly tunable VS engines is impossible - all that torque and power provided the wave on which Detroit's designers would surf for decades afterwards. Even in 2020, with the launch of a new mid-engined Corvette, you'll still find a pushrod VS under the hood.

The 330cu in VS in the Jetstar Holiday Coupe on these pages is one of the second generation of Rocket VSs, introduced in 1964. They had evolved slightly from the originals, but retained the same bore centres and deck heights, though increasing the stroke to give more potential for increased capacity. The original Rocket was such a strong and successful design that refinements came mainly in the top end, with wedge-shaped combustion chambers arriving with the second generation and delivering surprisingly clean and efficient performance. Indeed, it's said that of all VS engines manufactured by the

Big Three, only Oldsmobile's gen-2 Rocket met emissions standards all the way up to 1990, while still running on a carburettor.

That was the final year for a design with roots in 1949, but during its 41year life across numerous different capacities it powered many innovations, not least the front-wheel-drive Toronado and the related GMC Motorhome, plus tarmac-tearing muscle cars, family station wagons and any number of sedans, both modest and luxurious. It was loaned out to Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac as well. So while the Chevy and Ford small-blocks might be more famous, when you think of a big, brawny, burbling American VS, remember it all started with the Rocket.