Why did the exhaust pipe on the Ford Y-block V8 cross over in front of the engine?

At a car show a few years ago, I saw a 78 or 79 Chevy Z28 with a Ford 292, 2 barrel with that cross over pipe. He also used the truck big 4 speed, It was a nice car and he did a nice job of installing the engine and trans. You should have seen all of the Chevy cry babies complaining that he ruined the car. I told a few of them he's just making up for all of the Chevy engines stuffed in about everything.