When Chase Morsey Jr. joins Ford Motor Co. in 1948, he has no idea the part he'll play in automotive history.

Morsey's arrival comes as Henry Ford II and other titans in the industry are about to kill the vaunted V-8 engine. He sees it as his sole mission to talk them out of it. In The Man Who Saved the V-8, he shares the never-before-told story of how his crusade saved the engine that would go on to power iconic cars like the Ford Thunderbird and Mustang.

"To this day, I have no idea how a young, newly hired manager like myself...had the nerve to challenge the most...