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Which Car Never Got the Engine It Deserved?
One thing I’ve learned in my time with the Hagerty Community is to never underestimate what they (i.e., YOU) can contribute to the content we create here at Hagerty Media. I enjoy wondering about the variety of our collective hopes and dreams for our classic, antique, and specialty vehicles. Be it an engine swap or a full restoration, we all have such dreams, don’t we?
So here’s the question I pose to everyone: what if the cars we love also had hopes and dreams? I reckon among the first things they’d dream about is having the best engine possible under their hoods. So tell me, Hagerty Community:
What car never got the engine it deserved, and what is that engine?
I’ll answer the second part first. As a Ford Lincoln-Mercury enthusiast, I’ve used this answer more often than I can remember: The Ford “427 SOHC” big block V-8. This rowdy, single overhead camshaft version of Ford’s venerable FE engine was based on the 427 side oiler, but with hemispherical heads and that unique SOHC valvetrain. The idea was to make a motor that would put Chrysler’s 426 HEMI on notice, but it never reached such fame. And that’s a shame.
I suspect any Ford equipped with a 427 SOHC also needed one of those “as-is” stickers, just like the 426 Mopar it intended to usurp. That’s a necessary distraction, because Ford could have sold enough of these to justify all that effort. (Or so I’d like to believe!)
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Every Ford Thunderbolt needed this mill. It should have been an option for the Mercury Cougar. Or perhaps a limited run of “Cammer Continental Convertibles,” because that’s right up my alley. But now it’s your turn to contribute, valued member of the Hagerty Community:
What car never got the engine it deserved, and what is that engine?
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The mid to late ’80’s Monte Carlo SS. Great looking aesthetics, but that weak 305 V8 did not go with that car.
At a minimum, it needed a 350 if not even more cubic inches. Oh, and did I mention how much it deserved a Muncie 4-speed?
my sediments exactly !! I didn’t see this post before I responded !
Chrysler prowler needed a 426 hemi
I am sure it does not fit with the desired audience, but I always wanted Toyota to put the Tundra V8 in a special version Tacoma. Would have made a crazy smallish screamer I think
Probably.
One of the most unique cars with an underrated Renault engine.
That made it big in the movies back to future. can you say DELOREAn?
I had a ten year old 1960 4dr Impala back in the day. Wish I had it today. Had the ubiquitous 283 and got me lots of places. And at one point just to make people look, I painted the front fender stripes and stenciled on BOSS 283 on that fender. Made people laugh
Pontiac should have refined the OHC6 (used 66-69) and built the OHC V8 that they made a few engineering examples for. They were WAY ahead of their time, but the bean counters killed it and people wanted the big V8’s. The weak spot on the OHC6 was the oiling system. It was convenient to have the oil pump/distributor/fuel pump drive on the side of the block and it also provided the timing belt tension. There was only one small passage to feed the head and a small passage to the cam. Oil pressure had to be precise. The engine had 9:1 (1 bbl) or 10.5:1 (4 bbl) and all heads had machined combustion chambers with 1.94 intake valves. Just think what it could have been with better oiling, cross bolted mains (it already had a deep skirt block), multi-port fuel injection.
I must agree, the OHC Sprint engine in my ‘69 LeMans was a delight and could have been the best 6 to ever have been produced if given the detail development it deserved. My ‘69 with its 350 Turbo automatic could have easily hole-shot my ‘68 GTO ram air in a stop light drag while the goat sat there turning its street rubber into smoke. Canceling the OHC 6 was another lost opportunity by GMs bean counters.
Plymouth Prowler with a V-8? That would’ve been epic.
Since Ford had to homologate the Boss 429 motor for NASCAR, I always thought the Torino Talledega and the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler should have gotten the Boss 429, at least as an option.
80’s cadillac RWD vehicles. I understand why the HT4100 happened and how it ended up in those cars but i don’t think anything sold more BMW’s and Mercedes than that combination. Why not let the engineers finish developing that engine for the FWD downsized Cadillacs that were coming in 85 and so on and give those D body cars something like a crossfire 305 Chevy engine that GM had at their disposal already Would’ve been so much better.
I know a retired GM engineer who swapped the Fiero’s stock Iron Duke cast-iron 4 for the all-aluminum Oldsmobile 225 C.I. V-8. Lighter, smoother, much more powerful, and vertically shorter so it fit better. GM had already sold the rights to the engine to Rover, so it was no longer available.
The new Dodge Charger should have a Hemi V8 and a supercharger.
Not an electric motor making fake V8 sounds.
Not a disposable european in-line six.
For those of us who mainly drive / use SUVs, the biggest “miss” was when Toyota failed to put some flavor of their UZ-class V8 engine in the 1993-1997 80 series Land Cruiser! The 80 is such an outstanding, capable platform, and it’s a shame they only offered it in the U.S. with the 4.5L 1FZ-FE 6-cylinder engine. While competent in low-range offroad, and long-lived regardless, the 1FZ is also sorely lacking in power on the road. However, an 80 series with either a Toyota 1UZ, 2UZ or 3UZ V8 would likely be the best Land Cruiser Toyota ever made! (and one that would probably rival the Land Rover Defender in desirability and price)
2 fairly influencial cars that stand out to me: Jaguar XJ220 and the DMC-12. All the right looks, dropped the ball on powertrain.
How about a sixties era Mini with a Honda VTEC twincam?
The Triumph TR7 should have had the 16 valve engine from the Dolomite Sprint, but British Leyland were probably frightened by the insurance company premiums that would have resulted.