[Ford of France]

The engine series that predates the FE series is the 272-292-312 Y Block design. This was the first OHV V-8 produced by Ford and was introduced in 1955. You could say that it was the small block in the series of engines that Ford produced. I would have to check and see when it was eventually phased out. I

It wasn't until 1962 that Ford produced a thin wall casting small block. That one evolved from 220/260/289/302/351W.

Chevrolet's small block (Turbo Fire) was complimented with two different big block series: 348/409 Turbo Thrust and the 396/427/454 Turbo Jet. The 348 was, essentially, a truck engine modified to passenger car application. It was introduced in the Chevy line in 1958, much like the Ford 332. The 409 was phased out in 1965 with the introduction of the 396 "porcupine" engine which debuted in the Corvette in May of 1965.

The 409 was an interesting engine that was overly square in its configuration. Hard to keep together but they did some damage to Ford on the strip in the early going.