Frenchman Leon Levavasseur was a 39-year-old inventor in 1902 when he took out a patent for the first V-8 engine he called the Antoinette. The V8 since then has become the most reliable and efficient internal combustion engine to power automobiles and to see extensive use in power boats and early aircraft.

Did Henry Ford invent the V8 engine?

There, in Edison's cramped old workshop, under Ford's direct supervision and at a safe distance from the experts who knew it couldn't be done, they developed the first Ford V8 in 1932.

Did Ford make the first V8?

Henry Ford Stamping the First Ford V-8 Engine, 1932

By casting the engine's block as single piece, Ford kept manufacturing costs down and made the engine affordable to consumers. The venerable engine remained in production until 1953.