For decades, Italian cars ruled the streets when it came to style. Sure there were some good looking cars from other places, but nothing that could come close to the best from the likes of Pininfarina, Bertone, and even from in-house designers at Alfa and Lamborghini.

But when it came to power, the Americans were the default choice. Sure a screaming but tiny displacement Italian V12 could deliver impressive figures, but they were always highly stressed and finicky. Big American V8s delivered serious shove with less effort and better reliability. And for boutique carmakers much less cost.