I don't really want to argue or anything, because I pretty much love all engines. But 400bhp from big N/A engine isn't that special.
If I remember correctly there is a hillclimb mk2 Escort in Greece, with dyno charts telling numbers of 400 bhp. The engine in it is 2 litre N/A 16V YB Cosworth, highly tuned, goes up to 12k revs. Ok the engine is pretty "fancy" work and sure there has been some speculations of the accuracy of dyno charts, but I still like this example.
2.3 litre N/A Ford Duratec engines in rally usage very often produce ~320 bhp and they also have a very nice wide torque band.
Also 2.6 litre N/A Pinto engines are often used in rallying, these are making 300+ bhp with 8 valves and carbs and they are producing a very lovely torque curves too.
And also the old good BDA/BDG, the fastest N/A 2 litres making about 350 bhp and even under 10k rpm.
Tho I also know that you could squeeze a lot more out of that V8.
If I remember correctly there is a hillclimb mk2 Escort in Greece, with dyno charts telling numbers of 400 bhp. The engine in it is 2 litre N/A 16V YB Cosworth, highly tuned, goes up to 12k revs. Ok the engine is pretty "fancy" work and sure there has been some speculations of the accuracy of dyno charts, but I still like this example.
2.3 litre N/A Ford Duratec engines in rally usage very often produce ~320 bhp and they also have a very nice wide torque band.
Also 2.6 litre N/A Pinto engines are often used in rallying, these are making 300+ bhp with 8 valves and carbs and they are producing a very lovely torque curves too.
And also the old good BDA/BDG, the fastest N/A 2 litres making about 350 bhp and even under 10k rpm.
Tho I also know that you could squeeze a lot more out of that V8.
Trust me...as I learned with my first engine build, there is so much stuff that goes into doing it than you could imagine. It's taken a lot of work just to build my extremely mild 250rwhp 306ci V8 (thats RWhp, NOT bhp...bhp is closer to 300ish). You need to make sure the combo is well matched (<--- thats where people tend to fail. Bigger isnt always better) and will meet your goals (hp/tq, rpm, power band etc), the fuel system and computer (unless it's carb'd..but that needs to be matched too) have to be enough for it, have the rotating assembly balanced, you need to decide on how much compression you want, what kind of pistons, check bearing clearances, check piston-to-valve clearance, degree the camshaft, torque all bolts down to the proper torque and in the proper order, make sure all gaskets seal, etc. And that's just scratching the surface.
. Pull up next to ricers, make sure they hear the BOV, and picture the look on their faces 
. However, statements like "400bhp is nothing special" is just a bad comment to make; even for a V8 build, it's a lot of work to get a car to that much horsepower, and when it's your own money, things tend to quickly come into perspective; especially when you don't cut corners, which I found out quickly near the end of my 306 project. As my dad has always said, "You can go as fast as you'd like; how deep is your wallet?"
Saracasm is hard to detect via text.
