Your comparison to the Dodge SRT-4 is a really good one. They cracked into the 13s evidentially! Tires not withstanding, that's probably still a bit better (or as good as) what a stock Swinger 340 could have run.
As for where they went...yeah. I recently wondered the same thing. I guess they were just used up?
Honestly, that gen Neon is a pretty decent car and pretty well built. They weren't particularly rust-prone. I think the owners may have been particularly crash-prone however. :D
The SRT-4 was a wrong-wheel-drive rocket, especially for 2004.
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 13.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 24.8 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 5.7 sec
Standing 1/4-mile: 13.9 sec @ 103 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 153 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph @ impending lockup: 169 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.86 g
...So comparing the old 340 to the new high tech expensive engines is like comparing Blueberries to grapes, yeah they are the same color, but that's about it. :)
It sounds like you draw the line at the cost of modern clean V8s making the comparison not worthwhile? If so, that's as fair of a reason as any...but the cost of cars in general has outpaced inflation (I believe).
