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Best of Both Worlds: European Cars With American Engines

Vukasin Herbez July 18, 2023

Today, a hybrid vehicle means that the car in question uses electric and ICE power combined. But several decades ago, a “hybrid” was a cross between a European body and an American engine. This style was a sure recipe for some amazing cars as a result.

Back in the day, Europeans struggled to produce cheap and reliable high-performance engines. True, Ferrari had its V12s, but they weren’t precisely affordable or reliable due to many reasons. So, what did European companies do when they wanted to make a sports car but couldn’t complete an engine from scratch? They simply looked for the solution in Detroit. From the early ’50s to this day, several European companies had US power under the hood. This created unique and highly desirable machines. We found the best of them and listed them below.

Ghia 450 SS

Back in the ’50s, the Ghia design studio had close connections with Chrysler Corporation. They produced several highly successful show cars. In the early ’60s, Burt Sugarman, a famous Hollywood producer, contacted Ghia and suggested that the company produce a limited run of roadsters. They were based on the Plymouth Barracuda. But they had special bodies, bespoke interiors, and a bit more power. That was how Ghia 450 SS was born (via Supercars).

Powered by a 273 V8 with an automatic transmission, the Ghia 450 SS had 240 hp and decent performance as a result. Moreover, it had a unique and stylish design. As you can expect, Ghia 450 SS was a very expensive proposition. It cost roughly three times as top-of-the-line Barracuda. They only made 52 cars because of the price tag.

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Facel -Vega

Just after the Second World War, France was without luxury manufacturers. All of its car industry concentrated on economy cars with small engine displacement. Founder Jean Daninos realized that there was a gap in the market, So in 1954, they started producing the Facel Vega FVS as a result. It was a big luxury coupe with the 275 V8 from Chrysler’s De Soto brand (the Telegraph).

Despite post-war Europe needing more time to be ready for such an expensive vehicle, Daninos managed to sell enough of them to fund more models and expand the lineup. Facel Vega presented the gorgeous HK500 and Facel Vega II in just a few years. But the real gem was the luxurious Facel Vega Excellence because of many reasons. It was a big, four-door hard-top sedan produced in just around 100 examples. All those cars used big Chrysler V8s. The company closed in 1964. But for 10 short years, the Vega was the best example of EU-American hybrids. The unique combination of continental style and US power made it a favorite with celebrities of the era. Dean Martin and Ava Gardner owned several models, for example.

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Intermeccanica Italia Spyder

The late ’60s were interesting times for the car industry. This was especially small companies in northern Italy like Intermeccanica. After years of being involved with restoring and manufacturing cars for other brands, in 1969, the company introduced the Italia, an elegant sports car with Ford or Chevrolet power plants (via Supercars).

Intermeccanica made around 500 Italias, both in convertible and coupe form, and the model lasted until 1975. At that time, the company moved to the USA and entered the replica car business. However, the Italia Spider remains one of the rarest and most elegant Italian cars with American engines.

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Allard

Established in London in 1945 by Sydney Allard, the Allard Motor Company Limited was one of the first internationally successful car companies that featured cars with American engines. The majority of Allard’s models featured different US-built power plants from Ford, Cadillac, and Chrysler (via Supercars).

Allard’s concept was pretty simple but innovative for the time. Sydney wanted his cars as light and powerful as possible. With the addition of a big V8 in the front, his cars were very fast for the day and won numerous races. The company was closed in 1958. But Allards will always be remembered as one of the fastest cars of the era. And one of the most influential models since Carroll Shelby and Zora Arkus Duntov drove them and later developed models that featured the same design philosophy.

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DeTomaso Pantera

Perhaps not as well-known as Ferrari or Lamborghini, De Tomaso is another legend of the Italian sports car scene from the 1960s. Started by Alejandro De Tomaso, the company first started as a race car outfit. It soon moved to sports car markets with a lineup of successful models that featured Ford’s small block engines, five-speed transaxle gearbox, and aggressive design (via Car and Driver).

The first car was the Mangusta in 1967. But the Pantera, introduced in 1969, proved to be far more successful and popular, even though it shared a lot with the Mangusta. The key to Pantera’s success was because Alejandro DeTomaso got the deal with Ford Motor Company. This meant that De Tomaso’s products would be sold officially in America through the Lincoln-Mercury dealership network as a result.

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Sunbeam Tiger

In 1959, Sunbeam presented the Alpine, a nice-looking roadster with reliable mechanis and small 1.5 or 1.7-liter four cylinders. But the company soon realized that it needed much more than four cylinders to be competitive in the sports car market. So they called the legendary Carroll Shelby and asked him to turn the docile Alpine into a performance car (via Hagerty).

Shelby designed the Sunbeam Tiger as a muscle car version of the Alpine by installing a Ford 260 and later 289 V8 engine, redesigning the suspension and steering. It was the first British roadster with a proper V8 rumble and performance. Finally, Sunbeam had a sports car, and Tiger was fast and powerful for the standards of the day. Most of the cars produced went to US buyers and when production ended in 1968, Sunbeam had built around 7,000 examples of the Tiger.

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Iso Grifo

Iso sports cars were the brainchild of Italian industrialist Renzo Rivolta. After successful ventures in other forms of vehicle production, Rivolta decided to produce a sports car with a powerful US-built engine and homegrown Italian body. The best Iso model was the sublime Grifo. This elegant and dramatically styled coupe was introduced in 1964. And immediately became one of the market’s most advanced, desirable, and fastest sports coupes (via Autoexpress).

This was a bold claim since the middle of the ’60s in Italy. And it meant that there was serious competition from heavy hitters like Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini. Still, the Iso Grifo was more beautiful and faster than anything else out there at the time.

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Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada

Giotto Bizzarrini is one of the greatest names in the history of automotive engineering. As a person who worked for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Iso, he helped create some of the finest sports cars of the ’60s, including the mythical Ferrari 250 GTO. In the mid-’60s, Giotto decided to produce his own sports car. Using the Iso Grifo basis, he introduced the Bizzarrini GT5300 Strada (via Hemmings).

This was a semi-racing model transformed into a road-going coupe. Under the hood was a 5.3-liter Chevrolet V8, hence its GT 5300 name. The engine was tuned to produce higher HP ratings and moved as far back as possible for best weight distribution. The car was out of aluminum and very light, which made it very fast even by today’s standards and a good basis for a race car.

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Qvale Mangusta

The late ’90s brought Qvale as a new player on the international sports car scene. The project started as a DeTomaso concept, but it was continued as a Qvale since DeTomaso went out of business. Under the sleek and modern design, there were quite a few Ford Mustang parts, including a 4.6-liter V8 engine and dashboard (via Top Gear).

The most interesting feature of this car was the roof, and each Mangusta was also a coupe, Targa, and a convertible thanks to an interesting retractable hard top system that allowed several positions. Unfortunately, the car wasn’t well-received and was discontinued in 2002 after only 284 cars left the factory.

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Opel Diplomat V8 Coupe

For those who don’t know, German car manufacturer Opel was one of the biggest GM companies outside the US. For almost 90 years (from 1929-2017), GM owned Opel and influenced the design of its models more than a few times as a result (via Stellantis).

One of Europe’s most American cars ever produced is the glorious Opel Diplomat V8 Coupe, built from 1965 to 1967. The Diplomat was Opel’s luxury model and got Chevrolet’s 327 V8 engine due to that status. The overall design was reminiscent of Chevrolet’s mid-size and full-size models of the moment. With the standard Powerglide automatic transmission, the Diplomat V8 Coupe could easily be mistaken for a US model. However, since Opel was always an economy car manufacturer and the Diplomat Coupe V8 was very expensive, it was produced in only 347 examples because of this.

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DeTomaso Longchamp

In the ’70s, De Tomaso was a well-respected sports car brand that needed a luxury GT coupe to expand its portfolio. Built on a shortened Deauville sedan chassis, De Tomaso introduced a sleek and fast coupe called the Longchamp in 1972 (via Hagerty).

The engine for this model, as for all other De Tomaso cars, was sourced by Ford in the form of the 351 V8 that produced 330 hp. More than enough for exhilarating performance and true to the Gran Turismo nature of this car. Production was over in 1989 after more than 400 cars left the factory. The interesting thing was that US engines installed in Italian cars in the ’70s had more power and torque since European environmental standards were different than those in America.

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Monteverdi Hai 450

Monteverdi was a Swiss luxury car brand active from 1967 until 1984. Over the years, Monteverdi produced many premium models, marketed as cars with “German quality, Italian design, and American power.” This was a winning combination. Monteverdi cars featured Chrysler’s engine to produce effortless performance, speed, and raw power many European manufacturers of the period needed more (via Auto Evolution).

The most extreme Monteverdi model was the Hai 450 from 1970. The car featured a fully new chassis and body as well as the famous the Hemi 426 V8 engine in the back. Monteverdi wanted the most powerful engine Mopar had to offer, and in 1970, that was the mighty Hemi. The car was called “Hai,” which is German for shark. The 0 to 60 mph time took only 4.5 seconds, making it the quickest car of the era.

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Nardi Silver Ray

One of the first Italian sports cars to feature the American V8 was the little-known Nardi Silver Ray built in 1960. It was designed by Giovani Michelotti and built by Nardi on a tubular frame with some suspension parts from Alfa Romeo. However, the most interesting thing was the engine (via Veloce Today).

The Nardi Silver Ray used Plymouth’s Golden Commando 413 V8, which delivered 350 hp. For 1960, this was enormous power, and the Silver Ray could top 140 mph, which was outstanding. Since it was immensely powerful and fast, Nardi and Michelotti equipped it with four-wheel disc brakes.

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AC 428 Frua

The British company AC is best known for its part in the Cobra legend as a provider of bodies for early Shelbys. It was also a company that continued producing the best 289 and 427 Cobras after Shelby ceased production in 1967. However, the company introduced their own interesting European-American hybrid in 1965 (via Hyman).

Called the AC 428 Frua, it was a refined Gran Turismo coupe or convertible designed and assembled by Frua design studio in Italy. The basic mechanics were completed in England, and cars were on their way to Turin, where its final fabrication took place. Under the hood were American-made engines in the form of Ford’s 428 V8 with 345. The car was a fast cruiser, nicely equipped, and also expensive. This is why AC built only 81 examples before production ceased in 1973.

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Momo Mirage

The Momo Mirage was a brainchild of New York’s Peter Kalikow and his friend Albert Momo. Kalikow was a wealthy car enthusiast and Momo was a Jaguar dealer. The two developed a close friendship built around cars. In the late ’70s, they came to the idea of creating their own car company. They made a plan to produce exclusive coupes with Italian styling and bodies and Chevrolet’s V8 engines. They contacted the famous Italian designer Pietro Frua, who agreed to design and build the Momo Mirage (via Supercars).

Unfortunately, the Momo car company started in the early ’70s, just before the economic recession that significantly affected the car market. The plan for 25 Mirages per year was never a reality, and Frua only completed five cars, three of which are still in possession of Peter Kalikow.

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Iso Rivolta 300

The first model from the iconic Iso brand was the beautiful Rivolta. Named after the company’s founder Renzo Rivolta, this was an elegant Gran Turismo coupe designed by Bertone and powered by Chevrolet’s 350 V8 engine. In the Rivolta, this engine delivered 300 hp, enough for exciting performance and effortless cruising down Italian highways (via Silodrome).

Renzo Rivolta wanted to battle Ferrari in the GT market, so he commissioned Bertone to design an elegant two-door body. He employed several young engineers to take care of the mechanical side of the project. The engineers all wanted Chevrolet’s V8 for their power and durability. So Renzo green-lighted their choice and Iso Rivolta was born. It did fairly well on the market and influenced Rivolta to continue building cars.

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Jensen Interceptor FF

One of the best British Gran Turismo cars was the Jensen Interceptor. With Italian styling by Vignale, massive size, and powerful Chrysler 383 or 440 V8 engine in front, this four-seat coupe was one of the fastest and most comfortable cars for crossing continents in the late ’60s and early ’70s (via Classic and Sports Car).

All Interceptors feature Chrysler’s engine, but the best and very influential version was the Interceptor FF. The latter part of the name comes from Ferguson Formula. Meaning that this model has an all-wheel drive and an early form of ABS brakes. In 1966, this was space-age technology. The power was sourced from 383 V8, although there were coupe prototypes with the 426 Hemi. The Interceptor FF was too expensive and Jensen only managed to sell 320 copies. However, regular Interceptors in a coupe and convertible form were much more successful and over 6,400 left the factory until 1976.

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Ultima Evolution Coupe

Ultima Cars were never mainstream supercars people bought just to show off because of many reasons. Ultimas were extreme road-going machines for supercar purists and therefore, people brave enough to tackle a super-fast car without any help from electronic systems. So the latest offering in the form of Evolution Coupe is precisely what you want if you have an automotive death wish (via Ultima Sports).

The basic specs are scary enough. Yet under the hood is a Chevrolet LS2 V8 engine supercharged and tuned to produce 1020 hp. The power goes to the rear wheels over six-speed manual transmission, and no safety systems or traction control exist.

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Alfa Romeo TZ3

The TZ name has been present in Alfa’s history since the ’60s when it produced several sports and race cars named TZ 1 and TZ 2. The T stands for Turbulare, and Z for Zagato, the designer house (via Supercars).

The Alfa Romeo TZ 3 was the previous generation Dodge Viper ACR-X, a track-prepared version. Alfa only dressed the Viper into Zagato’s body, leaving all important mechanical components and a massive 8.2-liter engine intact. Even the interior was the same with the badges changed from Dodge to Alfa Romeo.

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DeTomaso Mangusta

Although the Pantera proved to be much more successful and popular, the Mangusta is arguably the more interesting DeTomaso model. The Mangusta was introduced in 1967 and featured a special racing chassis. And a high-performance engine from the Ford Mustang in the form of a high-revving 289 V8 and a five-speed transaxle gearbox. It also had interesting Gullwing-style rear openings for easier access to the engine (via CI).

The Mangusta was a somewhat expensive proposition in 1967 with tricky handling and questionable build quality. That is why DeTomaso only built 400 of those gorgeous coupes until 1971 and replaced them with the more conventional and cheaper-to-build Pantera.

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Iso Lele

Iso proved itself with two of the finest GT coupes built in Italy in the ’60s (Grifo and Rivolta). And they wanted to move forward as the ’70s approached. This meant presenting a more modern design with more luxury features and interior room to attract a new generation of buyers (via Secret Classics).

The New GT coupe was called Lele and debuted in 1969. It had a wedge-shaped profile, space for four adult occupants, and a big trunk. Under the hood was the 327 V8 from Chevrolet, but later versions featured a 351 V8 from Ford. Although an exciting and elegant car, the Iso Lele was hard to sell in the early ’70s due to the recession and oil crisis. Those factors forced the company to stop production and leave the car business as a result.

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Gordon Keeble GK1

By all means, the GK1 should have been a success. But today, this great sports car from the mid-’60s is an obscure gem. The GK1 was a fairly advanced car for its time with a fiberglass body, adjustable independent suspension, and Chevrolet’s 350 V8 in the front (via GKOC).

Initial reviews were very positive since the car looked good, performed well, and handled much better than other cars on the road. However, the price tag was high. The GK1 was almost two times the price of a Jaguar E-Type. It was even close to the cost of an Aston Martin, which sealed its fate as a result. They only made 99 of them, and each one survived to today.

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Koenigsegg CCR

Koenigsegg is a well-known hypercar manufacturer today. But in the early 2000s, the company had only just started to make a name for itself. One of the first cars Koenigsegg ever produced was the CCR introduced in 2004 (via Car Throttle).

The CCR proved to be a very important model in the company’s history. Since it was only sold in 14 examples, it broke a few speed records and showed the car world that the Koenigsegg company was a force to be reckoned with. However, under the hood of the CCR was an American power plant. Ford’s modular 4.6-liter V8 engine propelled the car. This monstrous engine was was thoroughly tuned and supercharged by Koenigsegg’s experts to produce 817 hp.

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Best of Both Worlds: European Cars With American Engines

Ghia 450 SS

Facel -Vega

Intermeccanica Italia Spyder

Allard

DeTomaso Pantera

Sunbeam Tiger

Iso Grifo

Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada

Qvale Mangusta

Opel Diplomat V8 Coupe

DeTomaso Longchamp

Monteverdi Hai 450

Nardi Silver Ray

AC 428 Frua

Momo Mirage

Iso Rivolta 300

Jensen Interceptor FF

Ultima Evolution Coupe

Alfa Romeo TZ3

DeTomaso Mangusta

Iso Lele

Gordon Keeble GK1

Koenigsegg CCR

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