Just like Japan is about performance, and Europe excels in luxury and sports, America has always been the home of brawny muscle cars. But this does not mean that the muscle cars were only made in the US. Seeing the success of the small, barebone car hauling a powerful engine, many countries followed suit and created muscle cars of their own.

Sure, they were not as cool as the Ford Mustang, or as hefty as the Plymouth GTO, but many of them were pretty good in their own standing. While we don’t want some of them, others are so cool that it makes us hanker for a drive, if not ownership.

Most of these muscle cars never reached the US, though, and import duties and restrictions may as well make it impossible for us to have them. But a man can still dream, right? So, here go 10 muscle cars with foreign origins that we’d love to have in the US, and five we’d be happy to do without.

15 We Badly Want: Ford Capri Perana, SA

We Badly Want: The Ford Capri Perana From SA
via WhichCar

Basil Green was known as the Carroll Shelby of the Bushveld because he was an auto tinkerer par excellence. One of the cars he made was the Ford Capri Perana, a mix of the Australian Ford Falcon and the American Ford Mustang. 20 of these were built between 1969 and 1973, and top speed was 228 mph, while a 0-60 mph run happened in 6.7 seconds.

14 We Badly Want: Chevrolet Firenza Can-Am, SA

We Badly Want: Chevrolet Firenza Can-Am From SA
via Pinterest

South African touring car legend Basil Van Rooyen wanted to take on the Capri Perana made by Basil Green. So his idea was to take a small car and put an impossible engine in it. He took a Chevrolet Firenza, technically a Vauxhall Firenza, and put in a Camaro Z28 V8 engine in it. It was good for 290 horses, a 140-mph top speed, and a 0-60 mph sprint of 5.4 seconds. He wanted to call it Mamba, but they called it Little Chev.

13 We Can Do Without: Facel Vega Typhoon, France

We Can Do Without The Facel Vega Typhoon, France
via ClassicDriver

Other than the strangely wrapped windshield that ends at an angle on the left and right front windows, the Facel Vega Typhoon did not look as powerful as it truly was. It was opulent, sure, and carried the biggest muscle mill around for its time, a 325 horsepower “Dual Quad” Hemi V8 from Chrysler. Only 36 were ever made, making it a super rare monstrosity not many know of or want.

12 We Badly Want: Ford Landau, Brazil

We Badly Want: Ford Landau From Brazil
via Pinterest

The Ford Landau sold in Brazil and was a full-size Ford Galaxie sold only as a four-door sedan. It carried a 5.0-liter V8 that generated plenty of power and was styled on the lines of the Lincoln Continental. The coolest part of this was that the Landau, in times of the oil crisis was modified to run on ethanol that gave it even higher horsepower, and turned it into punch-drunk muscle. Driving a boozy car is sure to give anyone a high.

RELATED: 15 American Muscle Cars Nobody Wants To Be Associated With

11 We Badly Want: Bitter CD, Germany

Bitter CD, Brown
via ClassicDriver

A beautiful car with a Ferrari-like front and a Pinto/Gremlin-like rear, the Bitter CD ran on a 227-horsepower Chevrolet V8 engine. Made by Erich Bitter, the car enjoyed cool orders for an indie automotive company till the 1973 oil crisis made its fuel-guzzling unpopular. A total of 395 of these were made and sold, and we’d love one of them.

10 We Can Do Without: Lancia Thema 8.32, Italy

We Can Do Without The Lancia Thema 8.32 From Italy
via TheDrive

The Lancia Thema 8.32 was named for its eight cylinders and 32 valves and came in with a Ferrari engine. The V8 offered up 215 horses, but it was very nose-heavy, and only 400 of these were ever sold, probably because of exorbitant costs. Whilst described as a pleasant car to drive, it looked boring and as non-muscular as could be.

9 We Badly Want: Ford Sierra RS Cosworth From The UK

We Badly Want: Ford Sierra RS Cosworth From The UK
Via TheSun

This is what Ford UK came up with when it wanted a car for straight-up Group A racing. It involved the blessing of Walter Hayes, one of the brains behind the success of the Ford GT40. Max speed was 149mph and a 0-60mph sprint was in 6.5 seconds, and this was all in the ‘80s.

8 We Badly Want: Jensen Interceptor From UK

We Badly Want: The Jensen Interceptor From UK
via Car-from-UK

Hand-built and utterly gorgeous, this was more GT than muscle, but we still want it either way. Production lasted a decade, from 1966 to 1976, and some 6,400 of these were produced in total. Each carried varying displacement of V8s, 5.9-liter to 7.2-liters. Top speeds were 135 mph, and a 0-60 mph run happened in 7.5 seconds.

RELATED: 5 Muscle Cars With Disturbingly Bad Engines (10 That Were Insanely Powerful)

7 We Can Do Without: Rover 75 V8, UK

We Can Do Without The Rover 75 V8, UK
via YouTube

Other than for that slightly larger premium grille, nothing made the Rover 75 V8 stand out from the Rover 75, though even the standard trim did pretty well for itself in the UK. MG’s takeover in 2005 stopped the production of the car. Still, it looks so boring for a muscle car, it might as well not be called one, with top speeds of 150-155 mph.

6 We Badly Want: Ford Falcon Cobra, Australia

We Badly Want: The Ford Falcon Cobra From Australia
via Pinterest

Much like the Mustang Machs and GT in the US, Australia had the Ford Falcon Cobra. 400 of these were made with the street-legal versions carrying 4.9-liter and 5.8-liter V8s. Most were painted white with blue stripes, though the treatment was different. The cars were first painted blue, then the stripes were masked and white paint was added on top. Each retails upwards of $100,000 today.

5 We Badly Want: Holden HK Monaro GTS From Australia

We Badly Want: The Holden HK Monaro GTS From Australia
via WhichCar

The Holden Monaro was a cool car, to begin with, and the GTS 327 came with a 5.3-liter V8 from Chevy that made 250 horses. The street-legal version was the HK Monaro GTS, and it too worked like a dream, while looking as muscular as the Camaros, Corvairs, and Novas of the time. This was Coke-bottle styling at its best.

4 We Can Do Without: Opel Diplomat V8, Germany

We Can Do Without The Opel Diplomat V8, Germany
via WheelsAge

The Opel Diplomat, the largest of the KAD cars from Opel (K for Kapitan and A for Admiral) had the largest wheelbase. This did not find favor with the Germans, despite the V8 powering it. The 227-horsepower engine failed to propel this large and heavy car with the kind of speeds that would have made it a hit. So the Germans passed on it, and we do too.

RELATED: 15 American Muscle Cars That Deserve To Be Put Out Of Their Misery

3 We Badly Want: Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint From Australia

We Badly Want: The Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint From Australia
via Pinterest

The Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint came to Australia in the ‘90s and was lighter and nimbler while carrying a hefty V8. 60 mph happened in 7.3 seconds, and the car was good for 140-mph speeds. While this never reached GT level of collectability, it was a pretty cool car for the ‘90s, at a time when sedans were being trounced by performance trucks.

2 We Badly Want: Chrysler 300 Super S

We Badly Want: Chrysler 300 Super S From The World
via Flickr

The rest of the world still enjoys the Chrysler 300 SRT, but America has truly lost it. We do want it back, because if Australia, New Zealand, five African countries, six ME countries and parts of Asia get to drive it, why can’t we? Time to lament those 470 horses from a 6.4-liter Hemi, dressed in Chrysler 300 finery.

1 We Can Do Without: Toyota Celica GT4 ST205, Japan

We Can Do Without The Toyota Celica GT4 ST205, Japan
via Pinterest

This is the original parent of the Supra and a fairly decent car for its time. It just became viable for JDM import as well, with the 25-year cooling period over for the pre-1995 models. So why are we saying no to a 250-horsepower beauty? Mostly because of the illegal turbo restrictor that got it banned from races, and because the Supra is far more recognizable. So why go for all the trouble to get a Celica?

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