I'm a huge fan of large capacity petrol engines, but I'm not a fan of diesels. Maybe that means I'm weird, but I've never found a diesel that feels as good as a big V8.
That big old Jensen V8 delivered power how I like it. Massive amounts of grunt all the time. No ifs, no buts, no lag, just pure grunt whenever I wanted it. Proper torque from idle to the redline. Tricky in the wet, admittedly with wheelspin possible from 900 rpm upwards in drive (idle was at 600 rpm). Then again, it was probably producing 300 lb ft not far above idle, rising to 400+ shortly after and staying up there to the redline.