Ok, wanted to clarify things a bit. For some bizarre reason people in
Arizona like to remove perfectly good engines from rare vehicles and
drop a Chevy 350 motor in there. I've seen Studebaker Golden Hawks
(which had a beautiful motor and paxton supercharger) get changed for
no reason. Add to that a list of other cars of similar quality of
motor and or rarity "ruined" (in my opinion mind you) at car shows. It
makes me a little crazy. Then there's the guys that spend upwards of
75K to build a ford/buick/plymouth/cadillac/studebaker/hudson hot rod
and put in a chevy motor. I mean hell, if you're going to spend that
much, put a more appropriate engine in place.
Now, when it comes to british cars, I like to see V-8 versions using
either the Rover V-8 or a Ford V-8. But the, there's a level of
provenance to the idea. The great AC Cobra was created by merging a
ford powerplant into an AC chassis. The Tiger used a Ford powerplant.
(I'm leaving the Jensen Interceptor out of this as it's a saloon car,
not a sports car).
The "Hemi in a Bug-eye" sounds like some incredible engineering. That
had to have required massive work, thought and talent to do something
like that. I think that sort of stuff is really cool.
At heart I'm still a purist. Driving cars like the Jensen-Healey has
shown me that I have to be more flexible/creative about that as parts
availability continually dwindles. I've learned to like doing/thinking
about engine swaps, but I still can't bring myself to do it unless
there's no original engine remaining in the car (I still want to build
a Porsche 944 with a LS-1 motor in it).
Jody
--
http://www.theymightberacing.com/
1953 Studebaker Champion
1960 Austin Healey 3000 (BT7L/5479)
1974 Jensen Healey MKII (14291)
1974 Jensen Healey MKII (18854)
1978 Triumph Spitfire (Mum's)
1981 Triumph TR8
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn
from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent
disinclination to do so."
--Douglas Adams
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