http://www.autoweek.com/article/2014010 ... dailydrive
It's interesting that it's seen continued use as the standard NHRA funny car and top fuel engine architecture. But I mean, the 426 hasn't been available in a car since, what, 1971 probably? Wow I just looked it up. 1971 on the money. Why would I even know that? I think I made an informed guess based on EPA/emissions on-goings in that time frame...
As cool as any big block muscle car engine is, to me, it lives in a big shadow cased by the (much smaller and lighter) SBC, which has been in continuous production since 1955. What's cooler than a V8 that's been around since 1955 and has been modernized enough to still be around, and meeting modern power, emissions, refinement, efficiency and packaging requirements? The thing is, Chrysler's small blocks weren't that awesome (perhaps due to the Hemi's existence). And the new Hemi is definitely not a large block, though they ARE still cast iron (which is dumb).
The NASCAR history surprises me. Most powerful kid on the block in 1964? Cool. Wait, the engines weren't always required to be found in a production vehicle? WTF?
I'm sure Ford could have invested in the Windsor engine architecture. Interestingly the Windsor is actually 7 years younger than the SBC itself. By the end of the line, the 302 was pushing around Ford Explorers (up to 2001, I had to look that up). I should note that the 302 was a 4.9L, not a 5.0L.
Total speculation on my part, but perhaps the over-square design of the 302 caused it to have emissions challenges. My SAE white paper research from the 70s taught me that a large bore presented a problem for emissions, because it was hard to light off the mixture quickly and have it burn evenly (requires some trick port designs to swirl the mixture). That could explain the truck application at the end of its life. Contrastingly, the never-that-exciting Chevy 305 was probably more emissions friendly having a smaller bore. Then again, it didn't have a car application past 1993 so that doesn't help my hypothesis. But maybe that was more due to the fact that there was no GM platform to put the 305 into. Corvette? No. F-body? With a 200hp 3800 Series II, and a 275-285hp LT1, what would have been the point of the 305? The L99 replaced the 305 in the B-bodies (and perfectly executed the 305's legacy for lameness).