Respectable street car?

Ok. I'll give you my personal example. My Mercury Bobcat project.

1976 Mercury Bobcat. (Mercury's version of the Pinto)

1999 GT40P 5.0 Explorer engine. Rebuilt and carbureted. Holley Street Dominator intake. 600 DP. Custom ground hydraulic roller. 9.5:1. Desktop Dyno says 330 HP and 360 LB FT. T-5 World Class 5 speed and 3.40 geared 8" rear axle. Car will curb weigh in at about 2500.

11" 5 lug Maverick rotor and GM metric caliper front conversion and 5 lug axles for the rear. 14x7 Ford Magnum 500 wheels with 235/60/14s. Front and rear HD sway bars.

My goal is a factory "what if" car. One that will be fun as HECK to drive every single day if I want to and still get decent fuel mileage.
The perfect description, of a hot street cat (car...for the rest of us...). I have done 4:10 gears ,4500 stall converters, and solid lifter cams... It's good, but technologies improve. The cool part , about your combo: It's affordable, proven for 25 plus years. It works....