In 1977, the Oldsmobile division of General Motors sold a car model called the Delta 88. Consumers were given an option regarding the powerplant for this car. The vehicle could come equipped with a V-6 engine or it could come with a high-performance V-8. The V-8 engine had a 350 cubic inch displacement and produced 170 horsepower and was nicknamed the "Rocket" in order to attract those customers that demanded high performance engines. GM planners, while they anticipated some demand for the larger engine, believed that demand for the V-6 would be greater as consumers were beginning to move towards more fuel-efficient cars because of fuel shortages. As a result, production of Delta 88's with V-8's was scaled back while the V-6 production was increased. The GM planners turned out to be incorrect in their estimates and demand for the V-8 model remained high, soon exceeding level that Oldsmobile could supply. Oldsmobile had a tricky situation on their hands.
The company could create a waiting list for customers who wanted the V-8 and risk losing customers to other brands. Alternatively, GM determined that instead of using an Oldsmobile-built V-8 "Rocket", a Chevrolet-built V-8 with practically identical specifications could be substituted into the Delta 88 quite easily. GM decided on the latter of the two options. Oldsmobile alerted its dealers in September of 1976, before the cars were even introduced, that they would be substituting the Chevy V-8 into approximately half of the Delta 88 production in order to meet higher-than-anticipated demand. Along the way, however, the consumer was never told. GM claimed that the engines were practically identical: same displacement, same horsepower and fuel consumption (although this would be contested later), and only slightly less torque with the Chevrolet version. The Chevrolet version of the engine was also slightly less expensive to produce.
