The father and son team of Chet and Jerry Wilson came up with this engine in 1973, as an economical alternative for midget racing.
They cut a small-block Chevy V-8 in half, by slicing through the block behind the number three and four cylinders. After milling was finished on the rear of the block, a plate was brazed over the water jackets and an aluminium face plate was bolted on. Either stock cast iron or aluminium Brodix heads are similarly cut and covered over. Then a special cam and crankshaft was built just for the engine. Wilson cast his own crank, which, because it is so short, is lightly stressed and much cheaper than a billet crank.
It measures 196 cubic inches and produces 300 horsepower. More than 40 engines were built for midgets and street rods around the country.
In 1977, Jerry Stone drove a Jelly Wilhelm midget with a Wilson V-4 to victory in the Seattle Kingdome Nationals. Stone tells the story of arriving at the Kingdome and being a part of a photo shoot with two other cars which had unusual engines. The editor of National Speed Sport News, Chris Economaki was there, and made the comment that none of these cars will be in contention for a feature berth, much less a win. When Stone heard this comment, it gave him additional drive to do well.
A total of 15 complete engines were built and an additional 40 provided in kit form, with several going to New Zealand and Australia. Many of these engines were used in street rods as well.
Jerry and Chet Wilson were not the first men to saw a Chevy in half, nor was Wilson Engine Service the only shop building V4 midget engines. But the Wilson engine was among the most popular. It was also an engine most people could afford.