If the Cologne engine didn't have low speed torque I don't know what it did have. It was all over by about 5,000 RPM too, from what I recall, hence the gearing.
You're confusing Cologne and Essex engines! A 2.8i will happily hit the rev limiter in the first four gears(which is about 6k); an Essex is running out of puff at 5, and done by 5.5 if your mechanical sympathy is turned off. If you're daft enough to remove the rev limiter from a 2.8i(it's on the rotor arm) it's easy to blow them up. The Essex can be improved by milling out the centre of the plenum under the carb, with no other mods it will eventually hit 6k, but do it frequently and you'll be resetting the valve clearances. Both use the same 3.02 diff ratio and similar diameter tyres.
Both suffer from timing gear failure, and the oil pump hex drive is truly shit. And they're heavy.