I had to do a double-take when I read this next car listing. The seller says he had a Fiat 500 with a bad battery so he swapped in a Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle engine into it…what? Isn’t a battery a $100 at Costco..oh…a 500e electric battery. That makes sense. This thing might be a bit […]
This next car is a Merkur XR4Ti which started life as the European Ford Sierra XR4i (yes, no “T” in the Ford of Europe version) way back when Maximum Bob Lutz was chairman of Ford’s German operations. The XT4Ti came with a 2.3 liter turbocharged Lima inline-4, but they didn’t make much power or torque […]
The Porsche 944 (1982-1991) zoomed onto the scene as an exhilarating episode in the chronicles of water-cooled front-engine Porsche sports coupes that kicked off in the late ’70s with the 928. It wasn’t just a snazzy successor to the 924; it was the beefed-up, turbocharged hero of the 924/944/968 clan. Surprisingly, it’s often been overlooked […]
I’m all for engine swaps — imagine how much fun a W123 Mercedes-Benz would be with a Cummins B-Series 12-Valve 5.9 liter turbo diesel. That’d be the bees knees. However, you’d then be left with an engineless Ram 1500 and an OM617 3-liter diesel engine…no, don’t do it. Just sell them both on your local […]
This next car is advertised as a VW Squareback Type 3…but I’m not sure how much of the original pancake-4 powered rear engine remains, aside from the body. Power comes from a front mounted 2.6 liter Mitsubishi 4-cylinder engine that was used in a variety of Mitsubishi, Dodge, and Chrysler vehicles…and the rest of the […]
I love a good engine swap. But good is a relative term. Is it good to swap a high revving zinger sports car engine into an appliance like a pickup truck? The AP2 inline-4 from the Honda S2000 is an incredible engine, but does it belong in a vehicle designed to haul junk and tow? […]
The W210 chassis was marketed by Mercedes-Benz with the as the E-class from 1995-2002. It offered an expensive and elite ride for the wealthy and well-to-do. Mercedes offered some versions with 6-cylinder engines where the E stands for executive, but in 1998 they turned the E up to 11 in something called the E55 AMG. […]
Back in the 1990s, if you wanted respect on the wild streets of Mira Mesa (a sleepy little suburban hamlet just North of NAS Miramar, which was the original home of Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School) you needed to take whatever base boat anchor engine was in your Civic/Accord/Whatever and drop in something with […]
The Triumph Spitfire was a small 2 seat convertible manufactured by the boys in the West Midlands from 1962 to 1980. It was a light, simple, low-power, little roadster that preferred winding roads to drag strips…but it wasn’t known for long term reliability. Enter the Mazda Miata — it took up where the MG and the Spitfire left off — open air motoring with durability and reliability. So what’s a British car enthusiast to do? Do you give in to the siren song of the MX-5 or do you shove all of those highly refined parts under the skin of a some old British piece and hope that rust doesn’t ruin your restomod dreams? Find this 1975 Triumph Spitfire with MX-5 power offered for $9,950 in Los Angeles, CA via craigslist.
I owned and drove an SVO Mustang a few years ago and it was an interesting car, but too heavy to really enjoy the 4-cylinder turbo under the hood properly. Sure, it made as much horsepower as the V8 version, but it was lacking in torque before the Garrett turbocharger found its breath above 3000 rpm. So it probably would be fun in a classic lightweight 2-seat roadster like this next thing. Find this 1968 Datsun Roadster offered for $17,900 in Springfield, MO via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!