Ford was so famous for its V8s that marketing its six-cylinder models was often a challenge for the Dearborn automaker. Here’s the selling story for 1954.

Introduced in 1932, Ford’s flathead V8 proved to be so popular that it became a key element of the company’s brand, much like the Model T and Model A that came before it. The identities were intertwined. For decades, if you were to ask Ford owners what kind of car they drove, they invariably replied, “a Ford V8.”

In 1941 Ford introduced an L-head straight six (see our feature, “Hell Freezes Over,” here), and while it was a perfectly sound engine, it never came close to receiving the same acclaim as the V8. And when the company brought out an all-new overhead-valve six for 1952 that was superior to the flathead in most every way, the old V8 remained the company’s biggest seller. With the introduction of the Y-block V8 in 1954, the Dearborn automaker now had a pair of up-to-date overhead-valve engines in its lineup and an aggressive campaign to market them both, as we see in the Ford theatrical spot below. However, selling the six remained the heavier lift.

While the new V8 was called the Y-Block, the inline six was named the I-Block to indicate that it, too, featured a deeply skirted cylinder block for maximum rigidity, quiet,  and smoothness. Displacement was increased from 215.3 to 223 cubic inches for ’54, enabling a boost in output to 115 hp, roughly comparable to the ’54 V8’s 130 hp in its original 239 CID form. But as the V8 received regular displacement increases to 272, 292, and 312 CID, the inline six fell behind, though it remained in the Ford lineup through 1964, often marketed as the “Mileage Maker.” Video below.