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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 modern day 2 seat Thunderbird of the early 2000’s. It was a complete dud.
Comment that will never be read – This one is for you Sajeev – the never produced 05- ? continuation model of the Mercury Marauder with the supercharged 5.4 Triton from the F-150 Lightning. Transplant time?
I woulda been happy with it getting the 3-valve V8 + 5-speed automatic from the S197 Mustang GT!
The AMC Pacer was first designed to get a rotary engine but that never worked out.
The VW CC should have had a 6 cylinder. the cars looked good and were really nice but just way under powered.
Then VW didn’t learn their lesson with the Arteon. Again, a nice car that just didn’t have the engine to make it a great car. It needs a6 or 8 cylinder. VW and Audi have plenty of good engines they could have put in these cars.
CC Executive model had the VR6 & it’s the only CC I would buy. I do love the looks of that sedan.
Mid engine 65 Corvair?
Chevy Corvair needed a mid engine option for a v8, because who really needs a back seat?
The Dodge Rampage and Plymouth Scamp would have been a blast with the Chrysler H.O. turbo-4 engine of that era.
The 1974 to 1978 Vettes (and beyond actually) were woefully underpowered and would have benefitted greatly from a more powerful engine. Simply a victim of their times.
The 1969 Firebird Trans Am was one car that really deserved to get the small block that Pontiac was developing at the time. If only it had made it to production. Consider what they were able to do with SD 455.
I have two friends, one had a 78 firebird with a 305 and the other 78 firebird had a 350. I don’t know if there was a gearing difference, but the 350 made a huge difference, not nearly as sluggish.
AC Aceca. got the (UK ford zephyr) straight 6 and bristol straight 6
but never got the chance to be a true AC Cobra Coupe.
instead ford designed their own.
So many, but the obvious one to me was always the MR2 Spyder missing out on the 2ZZ. It needed it to be the more raw alternative to the MX5 Miata that the rest of the design intimated.
A bit of an insult that no modifications to any other component would have been required for it to slot in, yet if you wanted a mid-engined, 2ZZ-powered sports car, you had to pay considerably more for a Lotus…
My Dad ordered a 1965 Chevy II SS with the L79 327/350hp in September of 1964, it was listed as a factory option. As we all know, GM never built a ’65 Nova with the L79. Apparently, in testing it was faster than the Corvette and GM was not going to let that happen. In early 1965, the dealer informed him GM would not build that car. After going back and forth, he finally gave in and accepted the 300hp 327. THAT is the car that deserved the L79. Alsways complained he didn’t get what he wanted from the factory but he did prove it was a killer combo because over the next year, he saved his nickels and dimes (literally!) and swapped heads, cam, and intake to create his own L79. It was a beast on the street. We had that car until the early 70’s and remember it well. And yeah, he beat many a Corvette in it, it was a sleeper for sure.
Any repeats here?
* Datsun 240Z with Nissan’s RB26 twin turbo or VQ35 V6
* Triumph TR-6 with same RB26
* Datsun 1200 coupe with Nissan’s SR20 or Mazda’s 13A rotary
* AMC Hornet & Gremlin with Nissan’s VQ35
The ’97 Dodge Avenger (Could’ve used a Turbo)
The ’86 Iroc-Z (Would’ve loved a Supercharged 400 instead of a 305 or TPI350)
The ’93 BMW 850Ci 6 speed (would’ve been nice if a 6.0L version of the M70/M73 engine was standard as in more torque more fun…)