i have owned many holdens and fords all v8s 2 sandman vans 1 sandman ute hr holdens showing age there also xw gt xb gt hardtop xd highway pursuit so on so on honestly if i had a preference it would be ford as i found the engines and gearboxes, diffs stronger my xd ran borgwarner diff and gearbox and i used to be very hard on my cars in my youth as i lived in the adelaide hills and loved to drive them hard my sandman in the avatar was a 308 and went well but always blue smoke even 6 months after motor was rebuilt by good mechanic 3 gearboxes 3rd gear every time back to 3rd to overtake and bang my pursain sand ute was 253 even that broke the good old aussie my 186 hr was the only car that didnt break the aussie probably what that gearbox was designed for but saying that i still love sandmans even my latest one has 3rd gear whine yes i know you can put a muncie or saginaw in but why didnt they from factory my borgwarner in xd never broke and that had alot more power than the sandman so that is what turned me from originally holden to now ford i found it cheaper and easier to fix doorhandles than gearboxes