Because not every V8 is American…
No country is more closely associated with the V8 than the USA, or has built so many versions of it. Chrysler’s Hemis, Ford’s flatheads, and Chevy’s big- and small-block motors are every bit as famous as the Chargers, Deuce Coupes and Corvettes they propelled.
But America didn’t have a total monopoly on the V8. Plenty of other nations saw merit in the layout and designed their own, often offering far more exotic interpretations.
Here are 21 of the greatest V8s not to come from the USA.
1. Bentley S2 – L-series V8
We’re kicking off our list of great V8s with an engine that has only just been retired after 60 years of service.
By the late 1950s Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars powered by the old straight-six were looking distinctly anaemic next to V8-powered Cadillacs and Lincolns. The answer was the aluminium L-series, which made its debut in 1959 in the Bentley S2 and Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.
Neither company quoted a power figure at the time – whatever it produced was substantially less than the 530bhp the final turbocharged versions were churning out in the Mulsanne in 2020.
2. Aston Martin DBS V8 – Tadek Marek V8
Another Brit looking for more performance than its straight-six could provide was Aston Martin. And the first Aston to get it was the 1969 DBS.
Under the bonnet was a Tadek Marek-designed, 5.3-litre V8 featuring fuel injection, four cams and an estimated 315bhp power output – around half what the supercharged Vantage V600 tortured its back tyres with in 2000 before Aston put it out to pasture.
3. Ferrari F40 – Dino V8
Ferrari designed its first V8 for the early 1960s SP racers, but it was another decade before it offered a V8 road car.
That was the awkward-looking, but fashionably wedgy, Dino 308GT4, whose 2.9-litre V8 produced 252bhp at launch in 1973.
By 1987 a twin-turbo derivative of that same engine in the back of the F40 was making over 470bhp.
4. Porsche 928 – Porsche V8
The car that tried – and failed – to replace the 911 didn’t just have an engine at the front, it had a water-cooled V8 at the front. No wonder Porsche fans were up in arms.
The early 4.5-litre sohc V8 made a modest 237bhp at its debut in 1977, but that grew to 345bhp for the 1992 5.4-litre dohc GTS.
5. Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 and 450SEL 6.9 – M100 V8
Long before the M5 was even a twinkle in BMW’s eye, Mercedes was making sensible saloons go indecently quickly with the help of its M100 V8.
Intended for the big 600 limo, it found its way into the W109 S-Class in 1968, giving us the 247bhp 300SEL 6.3. Seven years later that car made way for the 282bhp 450SEL 6.9, a 147mph thug dressed as a 110mph solicitor.
6. TVR Cerbera – AJP8
It wasn’t just TVR styling that came over all experimental in the late 1990s – the Blackpool sports-car maker decided to ditch its reliable Rover V8s for a straight-six and V8 of its own design.
The AJP V8 was only offered in the Cerbera coupé and came either as a 350bhp 4.2 or a 420bhp 4.5, with the option to tweak the latter up to 440bhp with the Red Rose package.
7. Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale – Alfa Romeo V8
Alfa’s sensational late-’60s supercar was derived from the company’s Tipo 33 racer, and that included its tiny 2.0-litre V8 that revved to a crazy 10,000rpm.
The Montreal coupé also used a version of this engine, but fitted with a more civilised cross-plane crankshaft.
8. Lexus V8 – 1UZ-FE
Toyota’s determination to outdo the big German brands for its first assault on the luxury car market resulted in a dohc 4.0 V8 so smooth, it was promoted by a TV ad where an LS400 was driven to 145mph on a rolling road with a pyramid of champagne glasses balanced on the bonnet.
9. Maserati 5000GT – Maserati V8
They say money talks, and when the Shah of Iran told Maserati he wanted a road car fitted with the engine from the 450S racer, the Italians listened.
Maserati only built 34 V8-powered 5000GTs, but the engine went on to star in the Ghibli, Bora, Khamsin, Kyalami and Quattroporte right through the 1970s and into the late 1980s.
10. Lotus Esprit V8 –Type 918
The Esprit had always looked like a supercar, and in turbo guise, it even went like one. But being stuck with four cylinders was a sore spot when German and Italian rivals came with six, eight, and even 12.
Lotus addressed that gripe in 1996 when the Lotus Esprit V8 appeared fitted with a flat-plane crank 3.5-litre V8 of Lotus’ own design. Critics moaned about the dull sound, but not the 350bhp or 4.4 secs 0-60mph performance.
11. Triumph Stag – Triumph V8
Triumph’s convertible cruiser was developed from the 2000/2500 saloon and the initial plan was to use that car’s straight-six.
That was swapped for a V8 by the time production started in 1970, but not the ex-Buick 3.5 V8 built by fellow Leyland marque, Rover. Instead it was a 3.0-litre V8 of Triumph’s own design, created by fusing two slant-four engines together.
12. AMG Hammer – AMG/Mercedes M117
Before Mercedes took control and made AMG a household name, the engineers from Affalterbach made a living selling monsters like the Hammer, a W124 E-Class stuffed full of S-Class V8.
In its most potent 375bhp 6.0-litre form the Hammer could top 186mph, enough to leave a contemporary Ferrari Testarossa in its wake.
13. Holden Hurricane – Holden V8
Though part of the GM empire, Australia’s Holden developed its own V8 engines, showing its new 253cu in (4.1-litre) powerplant off in the 1969 Hurricane concept car.
The Holden V8 eventually grew to 5.0-litres, becoming a lynchpin of Holden’s line-up for both road and race cars, before it was replaced by Chevy’s LS1 in 1999.
14. Tatra 87 – Tatra V8
Czech carmaker Tatra’s streamlined designs of the 1930s were a clear influence on Ferdinand Porsche’s Volkswagen Beetle, and with an air-cooled 2.5-litre V8 behind the rear seats, the Tatra 77 and 87 could easily pass for the Bug’s big brother.
Tatra continued to offer rear-engined V8 cars until the 1990s.
15. BMW 507 – M507/1
When influential car importer Max Hoffman persuaded BMW to create an expensive sports car for the US market, BMW responded with the 507. This elegant open-top two-seater was powered by a 148bhp, 3.2-litre version of a pushrod V8 originally developed for the 502 saloon.
Unfortunately for BMW, the pricey 507 was a flop. Just 252 were sold, but the remaining cars are now worth millions.
16. Daimler SP250 – Daimler V8
Daimler commissioned a brand-new pushrod V8 engine in the late 1950s, just before its takeover by Jaguar.
In fact, it got two engines in one: a 4.5-litre version for the big Majestic saloon, and a 2.5-litre that powered the SP250/Dart sports car, and would later find a home in the V8-250, a badge-engineered Mk2 Jag.
17. ZIL 41044 – ZIL V8
Our second V8 from behind the Iron Curtain comes from ZIL, the communist answer to Cadillac.
Only the most important Russians (and their chauffeurs) got to experience the V8 fitted to ZIL’s luxury saloons and limousines following the introduction of the 111 in 1958.
Unfortunately for ZIL, buyers switched allegiance to western brands in later years, and the firm went bust in 2013.
18. Ford/Jaguar AJ8
This long-lived V8 has powered everything from a Land Rover Discovery to a Jaguar XKR in both naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, but production recently ended following the closure of Ford’s Bridgend plant in Wales.
The most intriguing version of this V8 is actually a V6. When Jaguar needed a smaller engine to sit alongside the V8s in the XF, XJ and F-type in 2012, it kept the V8’s block but blanked off the two cylinders nearest the nose.
Aston Martin also used the AJ8 as the basis for a new naturally aspirated 4.3 (and later, 4.7) V8 that powered the 2005-’17 Vantage.
19. Lotus 49 – Cosworth DFV
Possibly the most famous racing engine of all time, the Double Four Valve V8 was based on an idea by Colin Chapman, designed by Cosworth’s Keith Duckworth, and bankrolled by Ford.
It came about because Lotus needed a new engine when F1 switched from 1.5-litres to 3.0-litres for the 1967 season and Lotus couldn’t afford to develop its own.
Ford soon decided to sell the DFV to other teams and the engine went on to dominate the sport for over a decade.
20. Rover SD1 Vitesse – Rover V8
Yes, the design came from Buick, but Rover made enough changes to make the all-alloy V8 its own, and made enough of them that we could hardly not include it here.
Used in everything from ministerial limos to low-cost kit cars, the Rover V8 had a huge impact on the automotive landscape.
21. Maserati Shamal – Maserati V8 4AC
After almost a decade without a V8, Maserati unleashed the Biturbo-based Shamal in 1990.
Legendary designer Marcello Gandini added his trademark slash-cut arches, and Maserati’s engineers replaced the Biturbo V6 with a 3.2-litre V8 that sent 322bhp to the rear wheels.
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