Smoll V8

[Walter White]

Triumph TR7 with a V8 conversion. They used to be bargains but nowadays may not be courtesy of Classic Car feeding frenzy.

Thirst usually kept V8 cars prices down.

Haven't looked at classified ads for years now so could be wide of the mark, but not a large car with a V8.

[Youngteam]

If you fancy an XJ8 I'll have a fairly nice one with long MOT for sale in a week or two for not much money.

[cort16]

There’s an Audi 80 on eBay just now fitted with the 4.2v8 from an Audi A8

 

it finished earlier but didn't hit the reserve

 

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/323344145087?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l10137

[bigstraight6]

The Daimler 250 saloons of the sixties used a peach of a 2.5 litre V8......

[Mrs6C]

The Daimler 250 saloons of the sixties used a peach of a 2.5 litre V8......

The Daimler Majestic Major 4 1/2 had a 4.5 litre V8 - it was a big car at the time, but it's a smoll car now... not American though... but does it matter?

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1963/16/4-12-litre-daimler-majestic-major

[Guest Hooli]

I get the feeling that yank V8 only matters a they use the correct* firing order to sound right.

[Squire_Dawson]

Buy Conelrad's Rover. It sounds great, drives great and women like it.

[hairnet]

Wouldn't that be the Renault 11?

zaphorets in goldeneye

[DodgeRover]

May I suggest:

 

https://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1000732

 

No idea on your budget though.

[Mrs6C]

A number of American cars with V8s still seem to be available in the UK at decent prices. 1980s/90s Mustangs aren't that expensive, or large. Less common but more luxurious are the 1990s Cadillacs, like the Seville STS and Eldorado Touring Coupe (ETC). Both represent a lot of car for not a lot of money, with a 4.9L V8 (to 1993) and then the 4.6L Northstar after that. UK STS models were RHD. They aren't that large in bodily dimension but they are well equipped inside, ride well and are very nice places to be.

[PhilA]

I get the feeling that yank V8 only matters a they use the correct* firing order to sound right.

Partly, though a lot of modern (think fuel injection) American V8's don't lope or hunt and only get a bit of a thrum going on once they're over about 2000 RPM and the throttle is a fair way open.

 

If you want the warble and burble in something that doesn't really deserve it but does it well, Toyota/Lexus. They've got a nice sound to them that's not so BRAP BRAP BRAP rough that Chevrolet and Ford are famed for (and sound pretty crappy with open headers) but really sounds the business once you open them up- does require new exhaust though as the stock ones are whisper quiet.

 

Not so smol but definitely a nice 8.

 

https://youtu.be/UEEDL_2ssPI

"Modern" 8, for example. My truck, started up from cold and let idle. Keeps that smooth note if you're gentle in on the loud pedal; not what a lot of people would really associate with "American V8", but that's kinda how they all are now. Big V8 doesn't necessarily bring that sound with it.

 

Phil

[Ghosty]

Buy Conelrad's Rover. It sounds great, drives great and women like it.

 

Came here to say the same thing, at £1800 it's a steal.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Rover is, to me at least, the archetypal Anglo-American V8 - and the P6 body is a damn fine way to clothe it.

[Guest Hooli]

Partly, though a lot of modern (think fuel injection) American V8's don't lope or hunt and only get a bit of a thrum going on once they're over about 2000 RPM and the throttle is a fair way open.

 

If you want the warble and burble in something that doesn't really deserve it but does it well, Toyota/Lexus. They've got a nice sound to them that's not so BRAP BRAP BRAP rough that Chevrolet and Ford are famed for (and sound pretty crappy with open headers) but really sounds the business once you open them up- does require new exhaust though as the stock ones are whisper quiet.

 

Not so smol but definitely a nice 8.

 

"Modern" 8, for example. My truck, started up from cold and let idle. Keeps that smooth note if you're gentle in on the loud pedal; not what a lot of people would really associate with "American V8", but that's kinda how they all are now. Big V8 doesn't necessarily bring that sound with it.

 

Phil

 

True enough. I was thinking of flat crank V8s etc that just sound wrong.

[Schaefft]

You can get V8s in non-AMG CLKs which are small cars imo. Cheap, and the Mercedes' V8s sound fantastic as well while generally being very reliable engines.

[Asimo]

I like these. They are not big but they are shite. Only thing puts me off is I don't want a convertible.

But I could take the fuses out and pour Capn' Tolleys into the roof seals....

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807068173369

 

OK, they don't throb and gargle like Dukes of Hazzzzard but if that stupid sound is your thing you could always pull a plug lead off. And still be fast enough.

[PhilA]

Agreed, a well balanced (intake, exhaust, cam) V8 should have a nice uniform WHRAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHH as it revs up.

 

As much as it's a "meh" thing, listen to NASCAR engines. They've tuned the warble out, for performance. A lot of pickup truck here get fitted with big exhausts and straight through pipes with no catalytic converters but retain the manifolds and lose the cross-connect. They sound like a VW Beetle firing on 3.

I think that's down to uneven length 4-2-1 on each side. 4-1 pipes make them sounds quite different.

Phil

[ChinaTom]

eBay search around US airbases with the hope of finding a gremlin or Pacer with the 5.0 V8. Saw one a few years ago in a windscreen replacement place in Thetford. Had a chat with owner who said there were plenty knocking around.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zelandeth]

Mate of mine back up north has a Monaro VXR (the silly supercharged one), and it's an absolute lunatic of a thing.

 

Probably a good thing I couldn't afford to buy, tax or insure the thing as it would cost me my licence if I could.

 

Main reasons?  Well...between the V8 noise (it has a well sorted exhaust on it) and the manic scream of the supercharger when you go near the accelerator pedal, it's very, very, very hard to behave in a restrained manner.  Between the noise it makes and the rate at which the scenery warps when you put the power down it is absolutely addictive.

 

The power response is downright brutal anywhere north of 1000rpm in any gear as well.  It's a while since I've driven it, but from what I recall if you did anything other than gently squeeze the power on it would happily break traction pretty much at any speed in any gear.

 

Third gear in particular I seem to recall being downright alarming.  Especially the time he decided to wait until I was rummaging for something in the glove box before flooring it, at which point I simply found my head glued to the head rest in a manner I'm only used to experiencing on roller coasters.

 

Be gentle with it though, and it's surprisingly well mannered.  The interior's nothing special as it's all GM parts bin stuff, but it does the job and isn't a horrible place to be.  Size-wise it just feels like a moderately sized saloon, and I don't recall it being particularly hard to park or anything.

 

Downside though is that it's recent enough that the road tax band will make your eyes water.

[Sloth in a bowl]

TVR used the Rover V8 in bunch of different versions and some very wedge bodies.

[twosmoke300]

Cerebra or nowt

[AMC Rebel]

eBay search around US airbases with the hope of finding a gremlin or Pacer with the 5.0 V8. Saw one a few years ago in a windscreen replacement place in Thetford. Had a chat with owner who said there were plenty knocking around.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Pacer FTW. Gremlins seem to be getting oddly collectable.

[AMC Rebel]

How about a nice Hornet sir

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMC-Hornet-1973-Gucci-edition-very-rare-sprotabout-wagon-V8-auto/263818791638

[cort16]

I like those little wedgey tvr 350’s with the rv8 in them .

Although they’re not that powerfull the lack of weight and torque should make them interesting to drive .

 

 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-TVR-350i-3-5-2dr-RARE-CLASSIC-LOW-MILEAGE-ONLY-46K/153107613587?hash=item23a5ecc793%3Ag%3ARawAAOSw8tZbUhH2&_sacat=0&_nkw=tvr+350i&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2332490.m4084.l1311.R1.TR5.TRC2.A0.H0.Xtvr+35.TRS0

[mat_the_cat]

The more I look the more I think a Yank V8 dropped into a Japanese/European shell sounds the way to get the car small enough that I like.

 

Hmmm...

 

 

 

Not for sale though

[MorrisItalSLX]

Triumph TR8? Smoll and Shite.

 

Must have plaid interior and rampant rot though...

[cort16]

Like Volvos?

Like v8’s?

Like turbos?

 

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/205298/volvo260-turbo-manual-cockermouth-north

[spike60]

My C4 Corvette was the smallest bodied V8 I've owned, despite what a lot of folk seem to think they are pretty much the same size as an E36 Coupe BMW. Mine had plenty of go with 300bhp/1400kg and plenty of rumble with S/S exhausts from some outfit in Exeter. Not everyone appreciates V8's with free flow exhausts though, I was asked not to attend a funeral in it! 

 

 

 

 

[Jerzy Woking]

A number of American cars with V8s still seem to be available in the UK at decent prices. 1980s/90s Mustangs aren't that expensive, or large. Less common but more luxurious are the 1990s Cadillacs, like the Seville STS and Eldorado Touring Coupe (ETC). Both represent a lot of car for not a lot of money, with a 4.9L V8 (to 1993) and then the 4.6L Northstar after that. UK STS models were RHD. They aren't that large in bodily dimension but they are well equipped inside, ride well and are very nice places to be.

 

 

Never realised that mid 90's Mustangs aren't that expensive, and as I plan to use the car in Europe, the LHD isn't a problem.

 

I'm sure I've read on here the the Cadillac Northstar engine isn't that good as the earlier engine. And that a lot of older American cars in the eBay tat thread are often followed with the phrase "it's fucked".

 

Lots of food for thought here, so thanks all for opening up a whole new World of consideration!

[JeeExEll]

Jag XK8 coupe from late 90s / early 2000s?

(Some products may contain rust).