The versatility of the Chevrolet 350 was incredible. If a vehicle had four wheels and a bow tie, the 350 was an option. The Ford 390 had similar versatility working well in trucks, family cruisers, or street rods. I have an old Ford truck with a 390 which still purrs like a kitten. I have a 427 side-oiler which I intend to rebuild, even though I don’t know what I’m going to put it in. There were some fine engines off that FE block.
In the early 80s I bought a station wagon from my friend’s mom to grab the 390 to put in my 1950 F-1 Ford. It had over 200k on the motor, and the tranny was out; so I started to tear it down. The motor looked like it had just come out of the factory. Ended up just throwing in some seals, and it ran like a scalded dog until I sold it.
I did thrown on a high-rise manifold and a 750 double-pump. Top speed was only 90, but she hit that in around 8 seconds. You could actually watch the gas tank drain when punching it—six miles to the gallon was no big deal when gas was cheap!