These Five Cool Cars Share Engines With Ordinary Commuters
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Some of the most exclusive exotic cars are purely the stuff of big dreams. Stunning styling, loads of power and advanced technology are packed into cars with astronomical price tags to boot. However, making a car is an extremely difficult process regardless of the final asking price. In reality, manufacturers both big and small have to work with tight budgets and the conflicting visions of the engineering and accounting departments, while their final products have to adhere to stringent emissions and safety regulations.
In the end, real sacrifices have to be made in order for said cars to reach both motor show floors and customers' garages. Sometimes, if not often, prestigious brands dive into the parts bins of mainstream manufacturers to keep costs down and cars on production schedule. For instance, the facelifted Lamborghini Diablo used the headlights from a Nissan, the McLaren F1 used VW Corrado mirrors and taillights from a bus, while the Honda Odyssey shares parts from the Acura NSX. While this makes for some interesting easter eggs between pedestrian commuter cars and 200-mph monsters, sometimes these decisions involve more than just bits and bobs; with supercars sharing powertrains with more innocuous vehicles.
Engineering is a small world. Over the course of decades, corporate alliances, platform sharing, and badge-engineering have quietly concocted some of the most unlikely creations in the automotive universe. In the end, a handful of truly extraordinary machines share a bloodline with the kind of car your neighbor might drive to the grocery store. Here are five of the best.
Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG & Aston Martin Vantage
As a total package, the AMG-tuned G-Wagen is probably one of the most absurd vehicles money can buy. Built on the base of a boxy, nearly half-century-old off-road truck with military roots, the near-$200,000 G63 AMG is a coveted status symbol that can be found at valet parking stands and in the driveways of every suburb in America. On the other hand, the Aston Martin Vantage is a sleek British sports car that echoes the spirit and soul of James Bond - a menacing machine meant to tear up both the racetrack and the less-traveled B-roads.
However, these two vehicles share Affalterbach's M177 twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8; an engine so good that Aston Martin essentially licensed it wholesale from Stuttgart when developing the current-generation Vantage. In the current G63, it makes 577 horsepower, and is also connected to a 48V mild-hybrid system providing 20 more horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, but it is a different beast in the Aston. The most recent edition of the Aston Martin Vantage V8's biturbo AMG V8 got a boost in power; up from 577 in the G63 to 656 horsepower. Both engines feature AMG's signature flat-plane crank that produces an impressive raw sound, but while the motor is connected to a nine-speed automatic box in the G63, the Vantage gets an eight-speed automatic with a shorter final drive for faster acceleration and a top speed of more than 200 mph.
Ford Crown Victoria & Koenigsegg CC8S
This sounds like a joke, but it technically isn't. The Ford Crown Victoria was the car of choice for police forces, taxi fleets, and probably your grandpa or meemaw for the better part of three decades. It was big, it was comfortable, it was utterly inoffensive, and it was powered by Ford's venerable 4.6-liter modular V8 - a dependable, workmanlike engine that asked nothing of you and gave you exactly what you needed. It was the automotive equivalent of a plain white t-shirt.
On the other hand, the Koenigsegg CC8S was the legendary Swedish brand's first production hypercar. Christian von Koenigsegg's creation made waves when it debuted at the 2000 Paris Auto Show, as no one had seen anything like it. The "eight" in CC8S is derived from the fact that it took eight years to develop, and in that time, they created a 655-horsepower carbon fiber monster.
The CC8S's chassis, suspension and brakes were of an in-house design, but its motor was a heavily modified version of that same Ford Modular V8. Koenigsegg bored the displacement out to 4.7 liters, rebuilt nearly every internal component from the crank up and threw two superchargers on it. With Koenigsegg's mods, the police cruiser's engine powered something that could embarrass Lamborghinis.
Koenigssegg made just six CC8Ss, but its successor; the 14-unit CCR, would go on to claim a production car speed record in Feburary 2005. In practice, it's the most extreme example of starting with humble ingredients and creating something extraordinary. In a nutshell, it's the automotive equivalent of a Michelin-starred chef making a gourmet dish out of ingredients from Walmart.
Renault Espace & Nissan 350Z
In 1999, Renault and Nissan forged an alliance to save the Japanese automaker from a fatal blow. Led by the now-infamous Carlos Ghosn, the French automaker implemented a serious of changes that would make Nissan profitable and much financially stable. However, part of the recovery effort included implementing parts-sharing practices between the French and Japanese, which resulted in a European minivan sharing its engine with one of the era's most iconic Japanese sports cars.
If you were a teenager, or played Need for Speed Underground or Forza back in the early 2000s, the Nissan 350Z needs little to no introduction. It was the cover car for these cult games and the car that'd grace bedroom posters and magazine covers. Underneath its distinctly styled body was an engine that gained a cult following among car enthusiasts of all stripes. The 3.5-liter VQ35DE V6 made anywhere from 287 to 300 horsepower in stock form, though it became a blank canvas for power-obsessed tuners both in Japan and the world over.
However, around the same time the 350Z hit the market, Renault introduced the Espace IV, the fourth iteration of its MPV. By then, previous iterations had become a common sight on school runs, grocery store parking lots and motorways across Europe, though its optional 3.5-liter V6 would come from a surprising source. Rebadged as the V4Y under the Renault banner, Nissan's VQ35DE in detuned form served family duty in the Espace from 2002 to 2015. Making a modest 238 horsepower in a much bigger minivan body, the Espace was never going to be on a poster. But, it's cool to know that a seven-seat family hauler has the same engine that has become a soundtrack for a generation of young enthusiasts.
BMW i8 & Mini Cooper
The BMW i8 is one of those cars that, even today, still makes you stop and stare. Launched in 2014, it looked like something that had rolled off the set of Mission Impossible than a BMW dealer. It was much cooler than any other Bavarian motor at the time; even your friend's 3-Series. It had butterfly doors that went up, a swooping, sculpted body, which looks so futuristic, it still looks ahead of its time more than a decade later. It was BMW's vision of a sustainable supercar; a plug-in hybrid that combined a rear-mounted electric motor with a mid-mounted combustion engine to produce 369 combined horsepower and a 0-60 time of around 4.2 seconds.
The combustion engine they used wasn't some powerful, or exotic unit like the ougoing E90 M3's V8, or even the then-new F80 M3's S55 turbo inline-six. For the sake of efficiency over outright power, BMW put in the B38 in the i8, a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-three cylinder that made 228 horsepower in the i8. According to the EPA, this combination made for a combined gas and electric fuel economy of 76 MPGe and 28 miles per gallon on just the gas engine alone; impressive figures for an exotic-looking sports car.
However, many enthusiasts felt that such an engine doesn't make sense in such a stunning vehicle. In a slightly different state of tune, that very same B38 could be found under the hood of the base-model Mini Cooper, where it made just 134 horsepower. The difference could not be more dramatic. In the Mini Cooper, the B38 powers a cheerful, efficient little city car. Meanwhile, in the i8, it's part of a hybrid powertrain in one of the most visually striking cars of the 21st century.
Audi S6 & Lamborghini Gallardo
For most of the 2000s, the entry point to Lamborghini ownership was the Gallardo, a two-seater that eventually became the brand's bestseller at the time, with 14,022 built throughout its production run. Despite it being the "baby Lambo," it came with an engine that wasn't juvenile by any measure; a naturally aspirated five-liter V10 with an 8,000 RPM redline, that made up to 552 horsepower in later iterations. It was the kind of engine that didn't just make noise, it made a sharp, high-revving, spine-tingling statement that screamed and shouted from three city blocks away.
On the other hand, the Audi S6, is a very fast executive saloon that your accountant might drive. But unbeknownst to outsiders, the C6-generation S6 of the mid-2000s carried an exciting little secret; a 5.2-liter V10. Audi and Lamborghini are both members of the Volkswagen Group, and the V10 that powered the S6 shared its fundamental architecture with the Gallardo's. Although C6-generation S6 owners would be quick to brag that they have a Lamborghini engine under the hood of their "grown-up" sedan, the two V10s are not exactly same-same.
The 5.2-liter V10 in the S6 has different camshafts, cylinder block and pistons than the one in the Gallardo, as well as a new crankshaft to provide longer stroke and wider bore for additional low end torque. All in all, this made 429 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque, which gave the hefty sedan a 0-60 mph of 5.2 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
Don't Sweat The Engineering
If there is any lesson we could learn from all this, it is that exotic cars aren't somehow less special because they borrowed their engines from more ordinary machines. If anything, it's the opposite; it's a reminder that an engine is just a starting point, and what engineers, tuners, and manufacturers do with that starting point is where the real story lives.
Whether it be Koenigsegg building their own V8 as a derivative of the Ford V8 in one of America's most well-known cop cars, or Audi sharing a Lamborghini V10 design for its fast executive sedan; the result is the same. Automakers and sports car firms save money and mindpower and buyers get an interesting piece of lore to share with curious friends, family and the next guy at Cars and Coffee. What you make of it is up to you.
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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 11:30 AM.