Hooniverse Asks: What's History's Greatest American Engine/Foreign Car Hybrid?

pantera
When someone tells you they drive a hybrid do your eyes light up and your tail start wagging as you picture a 327-powered Bizzarrini driven by the lady from the AT&T commercials? Or, do you scowl as if they just offered you a bite of their cat turd sammich, and picture a Prius driven by a Birkenstock-wearing Ed Begley, Jr on his way back from a hemp juice high colonic?
If it’s the former, then we have much to discuss.
Before the term was besmirched by the environmentalists and “hypermilers” hybrid used to mean a beautiful and impractical foreign-made body carrying some form of large and typically pushrod-equipped V8, built in the U.S. of A., or maybe Canada. The form factor arose in the fifties with cars like the Allard, but really took off in the Sixties as American V8s found their legs and foreign (mostly European) cottage car makers started sprouting like mushrooms, seemingly overnight. Considering that many are thought of as members of the most illustrious car club known to man, what do you think is the greatest hybrid in the world?
Image: Pinterest

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  1. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    One of my personal dream cars (that unfortunately will always be a dream given the coin they bring), Ghia 450SS. Sure it’s mostly a Plymouth Barracuda, but those lines. Those beautiful, beautiful lines…
    http://mint2me.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ghia-450SS-Front-top-off.jpg

    1. jim Avatar
      jim

      “Sure it’s mostly a Plymouth Barracuda”
      You say that like it’s a bad thing…

    1. Tomsk Avatar
      Tomsk

      O HAI.

  2. Kiefmo Avatar
    Kiefmo

    The Bristol Fighter, packing a Chryco V10 that would have otherwise wound up in a Viper. It’s not as quick as a Viper due to portliness, but Bristol claimed a 210mph top speed. Unknown whether that’s independently verified.
    There was a turbocharged concept that never made it to production with over 1k horseponies, and Bristol claimed a 270mph top speed. Lew-duh-kris.
    http://www.topcarrating.com/bristol/2007-bristol-fighter-t-4.jpg

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      https://www.boc.net/page.php?currPage=cars&sc=5 for some info. Wikipedia says 13 cars made, other sources say 15. Max Bostrom, the designer used to work for Brabham F1 and he designed a zero lift at both ends, car with a drag coefficient of 0.28. Mercedes Benz W124s and W220s given 500+ bhp can easily achieve 200mph, they have a similar drag coefficient and more frontal area. A McLaren F1 has 625bhp, a 0.31 Cd and a little less frontal area, ( much wider, but lower) and is rev limited to 240 mph i.e.redline at top speed, so yes 210 mph top speed sounds about right. They certainly didn’t make as many Bristols at the end as they did in their heyday.
      http://www.bristolcars.co.uk/Banner/Cars-Past_04.jpg

      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        That is an extraordinary photo – they only built 620 Bristol 401’s in 5 years so that must be 6 month’s worth in that one photo!

        1. Rover 1 Avatar
          Rover 1

          Things happen at a slower pace when they’re done by hand?

          1. outback_ute Avatar
            outback_ute

            Of course, but there are what look like 8 painted body shells lined up in the centre of the shot plus another batch at the far right hand side, presumably in holding; this seems a disproportionate number of their annual output to have on hand at one time, part-way through the build process (freshly painted and susceptible to damage, and taking up space). Not six month’s worth, but I count 42 cars in the shot.
            I suppose it depends in what size batches Touring delivered the bodies from Italy.

  3. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    The market would probably say Bizzarrini GT 5300, one of which recently topped $1M at auction.

  4. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    The Cadillac-engined Allard K2.

    1. The Real Number_Six Avatar
      The Real Number_Six

      Carroll Shelby raced a Cad-Allard. Coincidence? I think not. That and its stellar race results is why the car needs to be in the discussion for GOAT.

  5. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    I’ll give my vote to the Intermeccanica Italia.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/1972_Italia_Spyder.jpg

    1. Kiefmo Avatar
      Kiefmo

      This packed a 32v Ferd mod 4.6L, yes?

      1. JayP Avatar
        JayP

        Standard ohc 4.6 2v from the GT. That’s where the 260 comes from in the name.

        1. Tomsk Avatar
          Tomsk

          Yes, though a ZT/ZT-T 390 with the supercharged, 4-valve “Terminator” 4.6 was planned.

          1. JayP Avatar
            JayP

            I bet those engines ended up in the SV.

          2. outback_ute Avatar
            outback_ute

            They made some supercharged models, 3 were included in the liquidators auction in Australia. I don’t know if any were sold before then.

    2. Car_Door Avatar
      Car_Door

      Is this a Jaguar?

      1. JayP Avatar
        JayP

        MG ZT 260… check it out.
        Was a FWD, converted to RWD. Odd duck.

        1. Car_Door Avatar
          Car_Door

          Wow, talk about platform engineering.

          1. JayP Avatar
            JayP

            The rumor is the MG was developed in part with the BMW 5 which left a trans tunnel and rear subframe that could be converted to RWD.
            It really is an interesting car.

          2. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            Wasn’t it born as a botched BMW 6 labelled Rover 75?

          3. JayP Avatar
            JayP

            I think it was more along the lines of the Pacifica and M Class. Enough wiggle room for FWD/AWD/RWD.
            The 75 and ZT were twins. Not sure if any 75 V8 was created.
            That would have been cool…

          4. Rover 1 Avatar
            Rover 1

            Auto only on the Rover, (maybe one manual made.)

          5. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            My uncle owned a six cylindre 75 for a long time, bought new. BRG paint and tan interior. Very nice car, but the “faked dandyism” inside was just too much to bear. It’s from his dealer that I heard that BMW was developing a 6 series at the time they bought Rover, but they found out the car would do better there. I guess the whole adventure was a solid miscalculation.

          6. Rover 1 Avatar
            Rover 1

            No.
            BMW stuffed up.
            They never understood Rover and it’s design heritage and thought they were buying BMC/Austin Morris with LandRover attatched. They botched the launch at the first motor show by insulting the workers and management and Britain in general.
            A truer test of the car’s worth was achieved when,(specially in Europe) Rover 75s vastly outsold the Jaguar S-Type which was launched at exactly the same time and motor show and which had roughly twice as many dealers selling it for about the same price to a similar prospective customer.

          7. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            Actually, my uncle went for the Jag first, with the XJ in mind. But with his slightly homeless-on-a-binge dressing style, he wasn’t treated well (or at all) at Jaguar, and went over to Rover quite quickly. What they didn’t know, and shouldn’t even had to think about – all customers are supposed to be treated equally – is that he earns a head-of-medical-department-salary. That can be a substantial lump of money in good old Germany. So maybe the desperation at Rover at the time lead to a much more friendly approach to customers than they had across the street at that other foreign-owned British make.

          8. Rover 1 Avatar
            Rover 1

            Rumour not backed by fact according to Rover engineers, like the one about all the first new MINI engineering being done in Germany by BMW. But it fits BMW’s marketing message.

  6. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    Judging by the side marker lights, that’s the prototype Pantera for the U.S. market.

  7. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    Another shot of the Intermeccanica Italia Spyder:
    http://www.supercars.net/gallery/119513/1860/778868.jpg

  8. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    The NEEEEWWWWWWW Allante!
    Has your car been on a plane (other than a certain KV Mini)?
    It also inspired the Bundy Bounce.
    http://sfcitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bb.jpg

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      As far as I know, only my KV parts car has been on a plane. I believe Bruce Weiner brought the other one from France as part of a large group of microcars that he had crammed into a shipping container.

    1. Mal Pearson Avatar
      Mal Pearson

      What is that thing?

      1. pj134 Avatar
        pj134

        Spada Codatronca
        Bertone Mantide
        Devon GTX
        The top two are fancy bodied zr-1s and the last is a clean bodied viper.

  9. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    I had (and may still have somewhere!) a 1/43 scale diecast, in this color:
    http://mycarquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/AUSE.jpg
    Iso Rivolta, with Corvette power.

    1. Jaap Avatar
      Jaap

      Got the same diecast! Does yours also had a caravan behind it?

  10. theskitter Avatar

    Can I cause trouble and suggest that it was every Aston Martin since 1999 with not one, but two Duratec V6s under the hood?

    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      If that is the case then everything with a Rover/Buick V-8 qualifies.

      1. Kiefmo Avatar
        Kiefmo

        Well yes, but it was developed so far beyond the original Buick 215 that it only barely qualifies as the same engine.
        The original Aston Martin Duratec*2 was identical in displacement, vee angle, and power output to two Duratec 3.0s.

  11. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    A big dream that I won’t likely be able to fulfill ever:
    http://www.bildilla.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/facel-vega.jpg

    1. The Real Number_Six Avatar
      The Real Number_Six

      The truth is that it’s a toss-up between the Facel Vega and the Cad-Allard.

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      But…but…”history’s greatest”?

    2. Kiefmo Avatar
      Kiefmo

      Hang on, hang on.
      So, it’s a DOHC Japanese-designed engine based on an OHV Ford engine, which is then stuffed into the wrong end of an American-branded, Korean-built, Japanese-engineered vehicle.
      My head hurts.

      1. JayP Avatar
        JayP

        Exactly.

  12. The Real Number_Six Avatar
    The Real Number_Six

    This isn’t the greatest but it’s so much the greatest. 427 Frua: basically a Cobra with a cabin (powered by a Ford 427, 428, or 429).
    http://cdn.boldride.com/ac-cobra/1973/thumb/ac-428-frua-coupe.654×436.May-27-2013_07.33.21.005192.jpg

    1. tonyola Avatar
      tonyola

      Fun factoid time: this car is similar to the Maserati Mistral (also Frua bodied).

    1. Kiefmo Avatar
      Kiefmo

      Away w’ye and yer obvious answers! We’re all in here trying to out-obscure one another!

    2. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      I didn’t list it because most of them are US-built bodies housing Chevy engines.

      1. pj134 Avatar
        pj134

        … and rightly so on the latter.

    3. Tiller188 Avatar
      Tiller188

      Darn, I got all excited that I made it this far down the list without seeing one of these and thought I’d get to bring out the super low-hanging fruit. Oh well, well-played.

  13. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Monteverdi High Speed with a 440. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1971_Monteverdi_375C.jpg

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      When I hear that name, all I think of are the hideous hood scoops some of them have. Completely destroys a wonderfully organic design.
      http://s.petrolicious.com/2014/market-finds/05-may/iso-grifo-1.jpg

      1. jim Avatar
        jim

        Only the “7 Litri” version had that. As the name suggests, they needed it to accomodate their 7 liters engine.
        I too prefer the cleaner lines of the “lesser” models.

      2. Tiller188 Avatar
        Tiller188

        That’s always looked like an accordion-sided pop-up to me, which results in a strange urge to push it down until it locks back into place flush with the rest of the hood.

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          Yes! It looks very much like something that’s supposed to be pushed down.

    2. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      Finally! Can’t believe the thread went this far without it being mentioned and in a similar vein, the Bizzarini 5300GT
      https://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/two_third_slider/public/cars_images/147_1_1.jpg?itok=Gb8y39h2

    3. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      Here’s a Bizzarini version with the single headlight per side nose. Try this in your Ferrari without it breaking.
      http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–HMmBcmzY–/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/19fz9y9980r4sgif.gif

  14. Nicolas Bernard Avatar
    Nicolas Bernard

    When Britain meets Chrysler and Chevy.

    1. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      I love Marcos’s (what ever the plural i?s Marci? Group adjective: An Imelda of.. ), the thinking mans TVR.
      Quite fancied the idea of an older Ford V6 one, thinking they’d be relatively affordable relative to a classic TVR or Lotus. They’re not. 🙁

    1. jim Avatar
      jim

      Fun fact : the Mangusta was to be sold as a Shelby. Then some stuff happened, the deal fell through and that’s how the car got it’s name : the mongoose is the only animal that eats cobras in the wild.
      http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–jDtK8Nzc–/1325451229648210318.jpg

      1. JayP Avatar
        JayP

        And as I recently was reminded was in Kill Bill where the Mongoose wasn’t lost on the character names.
        https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–N7aqwjGF–/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18ltyweqh4w8sjpg.jpg

  15. jim Avatar
    jim

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Apollo_5000_GT_Coupe.jpg
    I’m not sure if the Apollo GT qualifies as being a foreign car, since the bodies were made in Italy by Intermeccanica, but the companies that installed the Buick V8 and sold them were based in Oakland, later in Dallas, and finally in Pasadena.

    1. Tomsk Avatar
      Tomsk

      You can’t fool me, that’s a Thorndyke Special!
      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CApsEXsWQAA-h9m.jpg

      1. JayP Avatar
        JayP

        This is the reason the internet exists.

  16. Jaap Avatar
    Jaap

    Facel Vega II

  17. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

    I’m mobile at the moment, so could somebody help me with a courtesy embed or two?
    My votes are for the Gordon Keeble GT,
    And the astonishingly beautiful and impressively obscure Franco-American Monica.

      1. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

        Much obliged!

      2. Rover 1 Avatar
        Rover 1

        And the Monica brought to us by Chris Lawrence who later brought us this.
        http://roa.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/14/47/546b52ec844ef_-_morgan-aero-8-lg.jpg

  18. sunbeammadd Avatar

    Perhaps not the greatest, but one of the more unusual ones: Panther 6.
    http://oldconceptcars.com/wp-content/uploads/Panther_Six_1977_3.jpg

    1. Jaap Avatar
      Jaap

      Genuine 1970’s kitsch!

    2. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      I had to look up what engine it had – a 500 ci Cadillac mid-mounted with a UPP transaxle

  19. mdharrell Avatar

    I don’t know whether it’s the greatest, but the Nash-Healey was certainly super, man.
    http://www.jimnolt.com/graphics/GeoNASHHEALEY.jpg

    1. JayP Avatar
      JayP

      Can’t wait for the follow up “Hooniverse Asks:”
      Foreign engines in American cars.
      (Nash Metro for one, BMW Diesel in Lincolns…. just a thought)

      1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
        smalleyxb122

        How strict would the rules be on what is American? Pretty much any captive import would have an American nameplate and a foreign engine.

        1. JayP Avatar
          JayP

          Chassis of North American source.
          That’s how I was able to sneak in the SHOgun in this exercise,.

          1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
            smalleyxb122

            So captive imports that are made in the US should count? (Think NUMMI)

          2. JayP Avatar
            JayP

            For the sake, yes.
            That’ll be a short list.

          3. pj134 Avatar
            pj134

            Chrysler had a lot of engines made my diamler, hyundai and now fiat.
            Also, NAFTA happened. That list ain’t too short.

          4. Vairship Avatar
            Vairship

            For the sake AND the bourbon: NUMMI was only partly Japanese owned. 😉

  20. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    I’m taking huge liberties with this, but the T-Car was of European origin, and 500+ cu in is pretty American.
    http://photos1.blogger.com/img/292/1503/400/hotrod.jpg

  21. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    I’m going to take liberties too, a foreign Ford car with an American engine… 1972 XA Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase IV, the car that was killed after one pilot build car went down the line due to political pressure. Why? Well the 170 mph top speed had a bit to do with it! (pictured one of the 3 aborted factory race team builds)

    1. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      By that reckoning, I’m surprised that no-ones mentioned the GT40, which I believe Lola in the UK built the chassis for, being essentially an evolution of an earlier Lola design.
      http://classiccarclubmanhattan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CCC-cars-Ford-GT40_1.jpg

  22. crank_case Avatar
    crank_case

    Do race cars with no road car counterpart count? In which case, the Lotus Type 49 and pretty much most of the F1 grid for the 60s and 70s running a Ford DFV (if that counts as a fully American engine given Cosworths involvment?) http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Lotus/67-Lotus-49-num5-DV-11-MH-01.jpg

    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      Not sure the DFV would count, did Ford have any involvement beyond writing cheques?

  23. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    The Opel Diplomat V8 used a Chevy 327 engine.

    1. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      On an Opel tip, does the Opel Speedster Count? Built in the UK by Lotus (essentially an Elise 1.5), powered by a GM Ecotec 2.2, both NA and turbo versions. Then again these particular engines, whille the same as what you’d find in a Chevy Copalt could be found in many regular Opels and was probably assembled in the UK or Germany so where do you draw the line on what’s an American engine?
      http://srv2.betterparts.org/images/opel-speedster-turbo-07.jpg

      1. mdharrell Avatar

        On the topic of not quite an Elise, there’s also the Tesla Roadster, manufactured as a glider from Lotus, then assembled with a US motor.

        1. crank_case Avatar
          crank_case

          Forgot about that with the Model S and X hogging the limelight these days. Also Detroit Electric SP01 if that’s a thing and not vaporware. http://www.topgear.com/sites/default/files/styles/fit_1960x1102/public/news/carousel/2015/04/Large%20Image_9357.jpg?itok=axe-g8nE

  24. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    Still no Jensen Interceptor?
    Shame!
    Originally with Chrysler V8s( from Canada) , recently relaunched with the ubiquitous LS, (and Jag IRS)
    http://cdn.wp.driving.co.uk/get/2014/12/JensonInterceptor.jpg
    and of course the AWD ABS FF version with the longer wheelbase to fit in the extra hardware, hence the extra vent.
    https://www.joc.org.uk/images/ff3.jpg

  25. OrphanGuy Avatar
    OrphanGuy

    Excellent piece. Quite a few I’d forgotten about
    Let me add the LaForza (Ford)