I registered on this forum solely because this thread pissed me off.
to quote "Small block Chevy motors have been put into nearly everything. Ferraris. Lambos. Maseratis. Roadsters. Vintage cars. Boats. Trucks. Airplanes.
Those machines never become collectables, are never auto show winners, and are anything but a self statement in creativity or uniqueness."
NEVER AUTO SHOW WINNERS? Anything but a self statement in creativity or uniqueness? That is a load of crap. OK. My buddy has a Fiat X1/9 on a lengthened Jeep CJ chassis with a small block chevy under the hood and was won numerous awards. That car has gotten that man get more pussy than the toilet seat in the women's locker room at the YWCA. Cars with chevy v8 swaps win numerous awards. I'm sure that you know about datsun 240z cars with v8's. Yeah yeah yeah, another datsun v8 swap. Those cars win awards all the time at car shows. And speaking of vintage cars, small block chevys are consistently put into old FORDS and chevrolets, and are consistenltly winning awards.
As far as uniqueness goes...have you been to
http://www.v8914.com/ ? Probably not, considering it's not very unique to drop a TWIN SUPERCHARGED, fuel injected, small block chevy into a porsche 914. Especially considering how badass the original 914 motors are. If a porsche 928 with a chevy engine isn't very unique, how many have you run into?
And then you start hating on Spitfire swaps. I'm almost done finishing my 1978 spitfire with a toyota 3tc/5 speed swap. And yes, "Look, i swapped in a toyota motor, now it's reliable". Not only is it reliable, it has almost more than quadruple the horsepower, gets 50 + MPG, eliminated ~200 pounds off the car, and has more of a "wow" factor than any stock spitfire engine.
I can clearly see the reasons for any small block swap. You mention "why not supercharge the porsche engine". 928 motorsports charges $6485.00 for their stage 2 kit, which yields 339 horsepower at the crank, or 279.5 at the rear wheels. So let me get this straight. You are willing to spend roughly $6,500 for 90 rear wheel horsepower? That just doesnt make sense to me.
There's no point in comparing 2 very different engines, as they both have their advantages. Sure porsche engines may be overengineered and highly tuned, while chevy engines still use a primitive (but well proven) pushrod motor. But there's no argument that chevy's pushrod engine is behind some of the world's fastest cars. It comes down to preference and each person's financial capabilities. Personally, i cannot afford to spend $28,000 for a devek stroker motor. But what i can afford is chevy design motor pushing 500 naturall aspirated horsepower.
I'm not trying to argue. I, like yourself, can appreciate all aspects involved in a swap. But to badmouth people's choice to swap the chevy small block engine is unnecessary. Everybody has their own reasons for doing a swap, whether it be for economical reasons or they want to join the "sheep" herd. If somebody wants bolt in a briggs and straton lawnmower engine into a 928, a modifies that little engine to put out 300 horsepower, that's cool too. Lord knows those engines power everything else.