In our last Showdown the Coronet RT edged out the Marauder, but not by a whole lot. If memory serves correctly, the Coronet went for around $30k on eBay, while the Marauder went for around $9k. We’re curious how today’s Showdown will pan out. It’s Ford Vs Chevy, with a twist. In one corner, we’ve got a fine example of modern muscle, an ’08 GT500. The other? A mashup of ’80s boxy goodness, ’90s suspension tech and ’00s GM power… We know the GT500 is not a particularly great sports car in the pure sense of the word. If the S2000 is a trapeze act, the GT500 is more like being shot out of a cannon. With its stark interior, 500hp blown 5.4L V8 and solid rearend, the GT500 hails from the subtlety is for pansies school of automotive design. Being a mere two model years old, our example’s got plenty of life left in it with all the modern stuff that makes daily drivers drivable on a daily basis. Livable brute force don’t come cheap, though. It’s $36k. There were 3 other GT500s we could’ve used in place of that last one, but there aren’t any other M3s like this one (at least, that are currently for sale). We’ve long had a soft spot in our heart for the e30 M3, particularly its bulging-box 80s homologation special looks. While the original S14 4-pot was nothing to sneeze at, our seller elected to shed the fussy German motor for more than double the displacement in the form of a warmed-over LS1 from an ’02 Vette backed up by a T-56  6-speed. Before we start grousing about weight gain, it should be noted that the all-aluminum LS1 weighs only 50lbs more than the iron-blocked BMW motor. Overall curb weight is 2850lbs. Suspension and brakes are upgraded all-around. We’re conflicted with the Bimmer, as the $35-large minimum bid is pretty ridiculous if we’re talking about a decent motor-swap. To us, a decent swap of this kind is more of a $15-20k kind of job. The sky-high price might be realistic if the work is A++ professional-grade with every.last.issue. is sorted out. [poll id=”16″]