GM did try selling (and continues to try to sell) a a tiny, turbo'd four as the standard engine in the Silverado, which is its hot-selling big truck. It has not exactly sold well – probably for the same reason the Satanic Bible doesn't sell well at Vatican City.

GM gets the drift. Evidence of this being the very happy news that not one but two new V8 are coming – are almost here, in fact – and they are bigger than the V8s they are replacing in the Silverado, its GMC-badged sibling the Sierra and also (probably), GM's big SUVs – the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade – that are based on GM's big trucks.

A new 5.7 liter (350 cubic inch!) V8 will replace the current 5.3 liter V8 that is the upgrade V8 in the Silverado (and standard in the Tahoe). The current/outgoing 5.3 liter V8 touts 335 horsepower and 383 ft.-lbs. of torque. GM hasn't officially confirmed how much power the new 5.7 V8 will make but inside baseball says 400 horsepower and 450 ft.-lbs. of torque, which would be nearly as much power as the current top-dog 6.2 liter V8 that's standard in the Escalade (and optional in less prestigious Chevy and GMC-badged SUVs and trucks) produces.

That, of course, requires an upgrade over the current top-dog 6.2 liter V8, which makes 420 horsepower and 460 ft.-lbs. of torque. The upgrade will take the form of a new 6.6 liter (400 cubic inch!) V8 with output reportedly – off-the-record – in the 475 horsepower and 500 ft.-lbs. of torque range.

All without resorting to turbocharging or (apparently) hybrid augmentation. Or multiple overhead camshafts and multiple valves. Both new engines will be single cam – in the block – and overhead valve (and just two valves per cylinder) designs, like the first "small block" V8 that came out in 1955. The current line are of course aluminum rather than cast iron, have roller camshafts and electronic fuel injection but the basic layout is still pretty similar. This means these new V8s  will continue to be relatively simple engines, as modern engines go. But that's not the main thing. The main thing is they're V8s, not multiple-turbo'd sixes, augmented by batteries and electric motors.

Well, there is one other thing. The unhappy thing.

Unlike the big V8s of the past – which were within the means of the masses – these V8s are going to be for the affluent-only. The fulsome scurvy truth (as the late and very great PJ O'Rourke used to say) is they already are. The current Silverado regular cab "work truck" is only available with the ridiculous 2.7 liter turbo'd four. If you want to be able to buy the current 5.3 liter V8, you must first buy a double cab Silverado, which has a starting price of $40,200 for the "work truck" version.