16: Mercury Comet
Throughout its life cycle, Mercury was often a dropping point for cloned Ford models. The brand worked to have an indentity of its own, but many of their cars were just questionable Fords. The Comet started life out as a Ford Falcon clone, but later on in the production cycle, it got an upgrade. The performance was a key point in differentiating the Comet from its corporate cousin. The car came with a more than capable 390 V8 that packed a whopping 335HP.

Upgrading the factory engine is a great way to increase performance. The Comet is a capable street machine fairly unknown to the general public. If you can get your hands on one, there is a lot of potential. Ford did a great job of designing a big car that could either go fast or cruise down the boulevard right from the factory.