If you’re worried about the price then you should not be looking into totally custom motor swaps.
As for your wow factor, I can’t speak for everyone but I’m impressed by customs that are different because they are in some way better than most, not different just for the sake of being different.
Take Newman’s BMW project for example. I’m impressed because he’s putting a hell of a motor in good chassis, paying a lot of attention to detail while doing it, and should have a solid performer when he’s done. If he had just cobbed in some heavy V8 because he could barely afford it I’d think the project was way lame.