Every engine of the late '70s and early '80s sucked. I'm not very "passionate" about these sucky engines, I just don't like when people use power figures from Europe and/or from the mid-'80s to make disingenuous arguments.

You're playing fast and loose with timelines and numbers here, bud. You're mixing numbers up with European-market cars from years later that didn't have catalytic converters and wouldn't have had a hope in hell of being sold on the US market.

The pictured Camaro is a late '70s Z28, which would have had 185 hp (although this had dropped to a nadir in '81 of only 175 hp, with the introduction of the Computer Command Control (CCC) electronically-controlled carburetor). The 535i didn't come out until 1985; an IROC-Z made 215 hp from its fuel-injected 305 by then. The M535i of the early '80s was never sold in the US because it didn't meet emissions standards. The M5 didn't come out until '86 in the US, and it was 256 hp when configured for US emissions.

>Alfa Romeo was getting a little over 1 horsepower per cubic inch out of their 4cyl that had been in use since the 50s.

Again: not in the US they weren't.

The 2.0 L (122 cu in) Spider and Alfetta GT/Sprint Veloce with SPICA mechanical fuel injection only made 110 hp at the time. It was respectable. The real screamer in the US Alfa lineup was the GTV6, which came out in 1980 and made 154 hp.

>Meanwhile BMW was getting 190 horsepower out of a 2.8l.

Not in the US they weren't...