Fuelies—The Story Behind the Story

So is it worth paying a 15%–20% premium for a car with a notoriously troublesome FI system? The market seems to say it is

by Colin Comer

In the early years of the horsepower wars, in the mid-1950s, Detroit was looking for ways to get a jump on the competition. The new frontier was fuel injection, with Mercedes-Benz introducing mechanical fuel injection on the 300SL in 1954.

Racers were also using fuel injection as a power-adding device, so why not make it a regular production option? By 1956, Zora Arkus-Duntov had worked with Rochester to develop the Ram Jet fuel injection system, which became the first domestic fuel injection system offered to the public. The Ram Jet was a continuous flow system that operated on various vacuum signals and low-pressure fuel injection nozzles, unlike Mercedes’ diesel-style high-pressure nozzle metering system.

The option was available mid-year on the 1957 Corvette and its 283 ci engine, and it became the first engine to have an advertised one...