Recently, I got a note from reader Andy30thZ in my inbox, directing my attention to a video that simply said, “1,100 horsepower big block into a ’72 Mercury Marquis”. The only ways to get my attention faster involves a sizable explosion or graphic nudity. And indeed, Power Nation has a project that is seeing said Mercury getting a beast of a big-block Ford between the fenders into a spray-bombed engine bay.  I gained an appreciation for the Marquis and it’s similar year Ford LTD sibling during my time in Arizona. A gentleman a few houses down from where I lived owned a pristine blue example that I found handsome. But “speedy” was never a word I was going to use to describe it. Full-size Fords from the early 1970s tend to have what I call “authoritative power”, meaning that they have a boatload of torque and they have a decent horsepower figure, but the action is designed with smooth, effortless starts and highway speeds more appropriate for today’s speed limits, not a tire-frying good time at every test of the throttle.

Look at any of the big-bodies from the 1960s and 1970s, and you’ll see the same setup: these weren’t hot rods, they were sleds with torque. Maybe the Mercury Marauder, Plymouth Fury GT 440 and a Motion-modified Chevrolet Biscayne get passes, but more often than not this was Uncle Earl’s car, the big beast with the big motor that, sad to say, didn’t have the sex appeal of a Camaro, or a Road Runner, or a big-cube Mustang. The lines of the time period are there, the engine bays are massive, and there is something intimidating about those big yachts of yore when you see one driving down the street, so for today’s Question of the Day, let’s give this a shot.

In my head, Angry Grandpa needs a throwback. So let’s start with a 1969 Chrysler Three Hundred two-door. It’s just slightly smaller than the U.S.S. Missouri and can seat an extended family comfortably, and the trunk doubles as a one-person hotel room. It’s big enough. The C-body was rocking Chrysler’s “Fuselage” style to the core, so you got a rounded shape and a loop bumper with hidden headlights and marker lights in the far corners up front, a surprisingly intimidating face for an otherwise classy car. This car is better prepared to tow than most crossovers on a good day, so provided you’ve beefed up the rear axle and have the 727 TorqueFlite ready for the punishment, there’s two options I see making the big-boy power: either a super-built third-gen Hemi that keeps the hood closed and the motivation under wraps, or you hang everything out for everyone to stare at and you go with a 426 Hemi-based build that has a massive iron lung poking out of the hood. Fuel economy? Never heard of her. This is maximum shock factor, not a Consumer Reports test. Of course we want the nitrous. Of course we want it running on some super-sweet-smellng race fuel.

That’s my brain at work. What about you…what big car/big power combo tickles your fancy?