Actually the VERY first chevy v8 (small block if you wanna call it that) was built in 1929.. It was actually designed around two 4 cylinders mated together.. Just a stupid piece of trivia I learned at some point..
I think the figure was around 54 million. Somewhere I have a story from one of the dealer newsletters from 1995 or 2000 when the SBC was 40-45 years young. More stupid trivia, You can still buy a truck with the L31 Vortec 350 in Mexico.