Favorite V8 engine?

Ford Voodoo 5.2 

Small block Chevy

Chris Econmaki used to claim that the most popular racing engine ever was the Ford Model B (four cylinder). That may have been true in the golden age of the midget racer, but I think that the Chevy has to have surpassed the Ford.

I remember when Car & Driver (or perhaps R&T) had a cover story in the late '50s or early '60s about how so many diffefrent kinds of racing cars in different racing disciplines were using that engine. And that's before it became ubiquitous in strock car racing

The Ferrari F355 five valve motor.  One of the best sounding street cars.

OR

OR

All filed under "engines that I will never own".

Toyota 1UZ-FE.  I had a Soarer (Lexus SC400 in the US) with one of these engines.  Great build quality, more than enough power to drive the rear wheels. 

Let's see, V8s in the fleet:

1966 Cadillac 429. Wants to be an electric motor. Sounds good with a hole in the header.

2002 BMW E39 M5 (insert secret engine code here). A sweetheart. Not a brute, this wants to be revved. Makes a great noise.

2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 (I think?). Characterless and attached to a sloppy automatic. 

LS1 and LS3: Hammers. Just compact bundles of instant torque and noise. It helps that they're both in cars that weigh 2300-2400 lbs. But man, they'll punch you in the back of the head.

So of that group, the BMW is the engine that feels the most special and the LS3 is the one that just plain gets the job done.

426 Hemi.

BMW S65.  Sounds amazing at 7500-8000 rpm 

427 Ford or SOHC Ford

2.5 litre hemi Daimler SP250 - a jewel!