Like many American men of a certain age, the first internal-combustion automobile engine we became familiar with was the small block Chevrolet V-8. In our case, it was the least-powerful 350 ever made, but it was still a 350. Small blocks look archetypical to us because they are. It is the metric by which we judge the …

Pasadena's Art Center College of Design, notable for its automotive design program and turning out rodding celebrities like Chip Foose (whose senior portfolio was the inspiration for the Plymouth Prowler) and David Perry, celebrated its 75th anniversary Sunday by displaying 100 significant vehicles. Jay Leno showed up …