The 348 was on the drawing board in 57, ready to go into production as a 1958 medium-truck engine, never intended for car or pickup use at all. Then the 57 Ford supercharged 312's started eating the 283 Chevy's lunch on the drag strip. Chevy got panicky, ground up a solid-lifter cam and cast a 3-2BBL intake, and dropped the 348 into the 58 Impala. The engine had gobs of low-end torque, thanks to its truck-engine heritage, but it would swallow valves if it got wound up tighter than 5500 RPM. For the guys accustomed to winding the 2-4BBL 283's to 8 grand, that was a huge disappointment!
Jerry
Last edited by Hotrod Lincoln; 09/05/2010 2:09 AM.
