One local stock car racer ruled the tracks running 292 Chevy's in cars like old Volvo PV544's..they are hard to beat for low RPM torque...Clifford Research made 4 bbl manifolds and headers ,valve covers and other high performance parts for straight sixes..
The older I get,the more I like old straight sixes..last one I had was a lowly 250 "camel-humper" in my '79 Bonanza,I adapted a Edelbrock to its original 2 bbl integral intake,and ran it with the secondary barrels dissconnected..the thing surprised me,it actually went pretty good,had gobs of off idle torque..more than the 305 I replaced it with did,when its #6 piston decided to lose part of its crown,after years of spark knock from the crappy "Very-Junk" 2bbl carb running too lean,and the poor design of the integral head..
I had the same engine in my '81 G-10 van too,and decided to swap in a 307 V8 from a '73 Malibu--its slower than the six ever was,and sucks more gas down too..I regretted swapping it,it was a ton of work for nothing,really!..and both trucks were SO much easier to work on with the 6 too,especially the van!..
The 292's were not good on gas,but no worse than a 350..I just assume have a 292 than a V8..