Pontiac 370 V8 Engine

The Pontiac 370 V8 engine was another small blip on the radar for GM but a blip that would lead to great things. The 370 was only produced in 1958 and was a bored out and improved version of the Pontiac 347 that came with upgraded exhaust manifolds that allowed for increased air flow, larger exhaust ports, valve covers that were engineered to seal better as well as much better piston rings.

The fuel injection setup that was standard on the Pontiac 347 in 1957 for the Bonneville was still available for the 370 engine but for the 1958 Bonneville it came as an option. The fuel injection option was quite expensive for the 1958 Bonneville with a price tag of around $500 bucks. Because of that there were not many fuel injected 370 engines ever built with production estimates at around the 400 range. After 1958, fuel injection was no longer offered for any Pontiac automobile due to lackluster sales and the extremely high cost of production. This wouldn’t matter for Pontiac in the years to come due to the release of the 389 engine in 1959 that would eventually put Pontiac on the map as a serious performance oriented car company and give it the respect it deserved.

The tri-power option would again be available for the Pontiac 370 as it was for the 347 in 1957. A 370 with the tri-power carb setup put out a respectable 300 horsepower. Pontiac also continued its NASCAR engine series in 1958 by producing two high powered 370 engines that produced 315 and 330 horsepower depending on the carburetor setup.