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A white Mercury Cougar sits parked with nothing but a fender badge hinting at what’s under the hood — is it hot, or is it just another Cougar? The engine option this particular badge points to was Mercury’s biggest and rarest offering for the model that year, one only a few hundred Cougars ever received. Knowing how uncommon that combination actually was changes the entire verdict.
Dodge built the Challenger’s E-body platform to accept virtually any engine in Chrysler’s catalog, from a base slant-six all the way to the 426 Hemi, a range few rivals matched. This particular car splits the difference with a 440 big block and four-speed manual, delivering real muscle car performance without Hemi-level pricing. Here’s where that engine fits in the Challenger’s performance hierarchy.