Cars that can have the Nascar / Trans-Am / IROC racer look....and power!!

There are a few cars out there that have great potential for handling and braking as well as straight-line acceleration if you want to torture new Mustang, Camaro, and BMW owners in drag races or the twisties. Besides this mechanical ability, they can be made to look really cool, and be bought relatively cheap. #1. 1968-79 GM "X" body.  The obvious choice is a Nova, but this also includes Pontiac Venturas, Olds Omegas, and Buick Apollos. Virtually any suspension or brake upgrades that fit the Camaro / Firebird also fit these cars, so they can be made to handle exceptionally well. I mean late-1990's Corvette skidpad numbers, exceptionally well. The obvious choice for power is a small-block Chevy, which a lot of these came with from the factory anyway-GM was playing musical engines because of smog laws for most of the '70's. However, a 400 or 455 Pontiac or a 455 Olds with aluminum heads wouldn't be much more nose-heavy than the SBC, and would certainly bring the power level you want. You could also run a big-block Chevy if you want-they'll fit easily in the engine bay-and with aluminum heads and intake, headers, etc, would still have decent front to rear weight distribution. I see one with radiused and flared fenders, monster tires, and a sinister monochromatic black paint job. # 2. 1969-76 Pontiac Gran Prix. 400 power standard all years, and a fair number of '70-76 models have 455s!  And GM engineered a great chassis all those years ago-( The basic design debuted in 1964 ). Hotchkiss, Just Suspension,Global West, H-O Racing Specialties,Herb Adams VSE, and other companies offer suspension pieces to make these "A" bodies put a Trans-Am or a 'Vette on serious notice. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle or Monte Carlo will fit these cars,so your choices are unlimited. And they have large wheelwells that can fit huge tires without modification provided you have the right wheel offset. I picked the GP over all the other GM "A" bodies because most Chevelles and Monte Carlos have 350 cubes under the hood. Ditto for the Olds Cutlass and Buick Skylark / Regal. While 454 Montes and Chevelles are rare, 455 Cutlasses and 455 Regals are moon rocks. On the other hand, As I said, the Pontiacs had the big-blocks standard all years. GM "A" bodies were the scourge of NASCAR in the '70's and Popular Hot Rodding's "Project Talledega" a tricked up 1975 Chevelle Laguna that channel's Darrel Waltrip's racer-is a good example of the breed I'm talking about. # 3. 1967-73 Mercury Cougar. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Mustang also fit these cars. While some early models have 289s under the hood, most of these will have 351W or 351C motivation which is good, because there's a myriad of aftermarket support-heads, cams, intakes, stroker kits, etc to make the power to turn these kittys into tigers. A Cougar can usually be bought substantially cheaper than a same-year Mustang. The 429 / 460 has the same bellhousing bolt-pattern as the 351C, so you could go hog-wild on power if you need to. A 514, with a Tremec five-speed...... "M5 This you Yuppie Scum!"  Mastermind