Ah. I understand what you were aiming for now. Tell me if we're in agreement:
Torque is the twisting force. A measured empirical value for a given moment in time. For purposes of this dicussion it represents crankshaft torque - not rear wheel torque which is the result of mutiplications from convertor, transmission, and rear axle ratio.
Horsepower is the result of that force applied over a period of time. So it's a function of crankshaft torque.
What you're saying is a horsepower number, because it represents the work of torque over a period of time, is the more "all encompassing" and therefore a more performance indicative figure.
Right?