Today, a hybrid car means a vehicle with a gasoline engine paired with an electric motor. But back in the day, the hybrid was a combination of European body and American engine. Sounds strange? Maybe. But you wouldn’t believe how many cool and interesting cars were produced combining the best designers and constructors from Europe and the greatest muscle car engines from Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler. Some would even say that the best European sports cars had US-made engines. We will leave this for you to decide, but here are 15 best foreign cars that pack American muscle under the hood.
15 Facel Vega HK500
In the late '50s, France didn’t have a luxury brand so Facel Vega was established. Combining Gallic charm with Chrysler's 392 V8 engines, FV produced very expensive Gran Turismo models which were fast and exclusive. In fact, Facel Vegas was one of the fastest cars of the era and favorite transport of the Hollywood elite.
14 DeTomaso Pantera
During its exceptionally long production period (1971 to 1992), the Pantera stayed true to Euro/American formula. It was built in Italy but powered by good-old American V8 in the form of Ford's 351 V8. The combination proved very successful and De Tomaso sold over 7000 of them. Even Elvis had one.
13 Opel Diplomat V8
Opel was a part of GM for almost 80 years but this German company never borrowed much from America. However, its top-of-the-line model called the Diplomat was more like Impala than European sedan and it had optional 327 V8 straight from Chevrolet.
12 Monteverdi Safari
This one is very strange but also very cool. Monteverdi was a Swiss company; it used British Range Rover as a basis, Italian company called Fissore to built the bespoke body and American V8 engines to power the whole thing. It looks interesting and it was very powerful thanks to an optional 440 V8 from Chrysler.
11 Jensen Interceptor
Coming from the land of Astons and Jaguars, the Jensen Interceptor was more powerful than both simply since it had Chrysler's V8 under the hood. Depending on a version, you could get a 360 or a 383 V8, or opt for a big block 440 V8. Production ran from 1966 to 1976.
related: 15 European Sports Cars That Need To Make A Comeback
10 Bristol Fighter
Bristol was always an obscure company, totally outside of the market trends. In a desperate attempt to appear relevant, they produced a model called the Fighter. They took a Dodge Viper and gave it different body and Lambo-style doors.
9 Qvale Mangusta
Qvale was a short-lived sports car brand that took the DeTomaso Bigua concept and turned it into Mangusta. The Mangusta had an interesting roof design which made it a convertible, Targa, and coupe at the same time. It also used Mustang's 4.6-liter V8 and even had the same dashboard.
8 MG Xpower SV
This one is the prime example of a non-American muscle car. Produced in England and powered by Ford's 4.6 or 5.0-liter V8, the MG Xpower SV was an immensely interesting and cool model, albeit not a very successful one. Although it had vivid performance, MG produced only 82 cars.
7 Koenigsegg CCR
One of the prime supercar brands of the 21st century is Swedish Koenigsegg. Their first car and the model that put this company on the map was the CCR which was produced from 2004 to 2006. The heart of this beast was a twin-supercharged V8 which was based on Ford's Modular 4.6-liter engine.
6 Bitter CD
Although it looks like a thoroughbred Italian GT, the Bitter CD was, in fact, based on an ordinary Opel, produced in Germany and powered by a 327 V8 from Chevrolet. Despite being pretty good and fast, recession limited the sales, and in the end, Bitter sold less than 400 cars.
5 Ultima Evolution Coupe
The idea behind the Ultima was to offer the purest and scariest driving experience possible. That is why the Evolution Coupe comes with a 1020-hp LS V8 provided by GM Performance. If you know that a road-worthy example weights less than 1000 kg you know that this is one of the scariest cars on the planet.
4 Iso Grifo
One of the first successful Euro/American hybrids was the gorgeous Iso Grifo. Faster and more exclusive then Ferrari 250 GT, the Grifo was powered by several of Chevrolet's V8 engines. The car started with a 327 and 350 V8 from Corvette, but you could order it with a 427 V8 as well.
3 Alfa Romeo TZ3
Back in 2013, when Fiat and Chrysler's merger was formed, Alfa gained access to Dodge technology. They used the Viper ACR to create gorgeous TZ3, which is the fastest road-going Alfa Romeo ever made. The TZ3 was literary a Viper in an Italian suit.
2 Sunbeam Tiger
The Shelby Cobra was the first European car in which Carroll installed a Ford V8, but the second one was Sunbeam Tiger. Sunbeam wanted a performance roadster for American customers and Shelby had the solution – a compact yet powerful 260 V8 from a Ford Mustang.
1 Laforza
Today, sporty SUVs are nothing special, but 30 years ago, they were non-existent. Then came the Laforza, a weird Italian SUV made of Fiat bits and powered by Ford's legendary 5.0 HO engine. Even though it was a pretty obscure car, it had some success on the market.