Ex CXaliber...you're exactly right. Every engine builder out ther wishes they had a 4.9" (5" even better) bore ctr. The 385 Ford is the only one which does, and this gives it a BIG advantage. The FE has been plagued by it's 4.63 bore center untill recent block developments have allowed bigger bores, but it's still limited by that. There are aftermarket 4.9 and 5.0 bore ctr blocks out there for the GM guys, but I don't think they're NHRA legal (yet) and they're very expensive. If they were allowed to run the Ford, everyone else would be FORCED to change over just by virtue of the performance advantage. That means EVERY 4.84" GM part you have that is based on bore ctr, which is the majority of the expensive parts, (block, crank, heads, cams,
oil pans, intakes) is suddenly obsolete. Think about what that means, with an industry that is DOMINATED and financially supported by 4.84 bore ctr GM engines. So because the Ford engineers, in 1967 (the beginning of the design of the 385) saw a weakness in the BBC, and designed their engine to not have that limitation, they're screwed. I guarantee if Ford had not dropped out of racing in 1970, there wouldn't be a BBChevy that was competetive.