The Oldsmobile Rocket 303ci V8 was a big deal when it hit the streets in 1949. Starting off with a 2bbl carb an a rating of 135hp it was up 35hp over the 100 horse flatheads that Ford was building and the Olds engineers went from there. Adding a 4bbl carb and refining the engine brought the power to 160hp and then the addition of more compression in 1953 brought the power to 165.
The engines quickly became popular with hot rodders who saw the potential for waxing guys that ran flathead engines. While the introduction of the small block Chevy really changed everything in terms of hot rodding, Oldsmobile and Cadillac engines (the Caddy engines were very distantly related) taught lots of young rodders the tricks of the trade when it came to overhead valve engines. While the power output numbers may be quaint by today’s standards, they were stout for their era and with forged internals, they readily accepted blowers and even fuel from racers who were really serious about trying to go fast.
We’ve got a couple of Olds videos below and at the bottom we have a bonus 303ci engine video that features the sounds and fury of an engine that was not exactly produced by the factory but it WAS factory based and it did displace 303ci. See for yourself!
Check out the videos below and smile as we celebrate Olds 303 day!
Bonus Video –
Check out this road racing Pontiac with a destroked 303ci Pontiac engine. This was the mill (or something similar) that Herb Adams and the boys, along with the other Pontiac teams ran in SCCA competition back in the early 1970s.
