Where’s My Torque? 1992 Porsche 968 Convertible, 13B Rotary Swap
The Porsche 968 was the swan song for Porsche’s attempt at replacing the 911 with a font engined 2+2, and arguably the best looking of the 924/944/928/968 group. The elegant design is attributed to Dutch born Harm Lagaay who also designed the BMW Z1, Ford Scorpion/Sierra, Porsche 924, Boxster, Cayenne, 996, & Carrera GT (but he was not, as it might seem, the inspiration for Ferrari’s latest hypercar name.) However, for some strange reason, the folks at Porsche decided it needed a huge inline-4 mated to a transaxle, when what it needed was some pizzazz under the hood, something like a straight-8, or a turbocharged 2-stroke…or perhaps even a rotary engine would have given the 968 the wow factor it lacked. Find this 1992 Porsche 968 convertible with 13B rotary swap here on eBay
currently bidding for $1,825 reserve-not-met with $7,500 buy-it-now, located in Edmonds, WA.
My first thought when I saw an rotary powered 968 was, what sort of abomination is this? A few gin and tonics later (it was, after all, well past noon) and the idea started to seem less objectionable. Why shouldn’t a vehicle with such an elegant design have exotic spinning bits under the hood. Sure, the original Porsche engine makes about a millionty times the torque, but sometimes half the fun is making noise.
The original 3.0 liter inline-4 (rated at 240 horsepower) has been thrown asunder for a nice custom build 4-port Mazda 13B from a 2nd generation RX-7. The twin rotor 1.3 liter spinner would have put out 160 horsepower when new, but now it has been given a “street port” and should burn a lot more oil make some more power, but still less than the original Porsche torque monster.
On the inside it will be difficult to tell that this 968 is Mazda powered…but the funny part is how much of a full circle this car has created. The FC generation RX-7 was heavily influenced by the original 924 and dimensionally very similar…so to have that RX-7 engine in a Porsche descended from the 924 is extremely ironic.
See another Morsche RX68 or Pazda 967 for sale? tips@dailyturismo.com
Bizarre and further proof that many swaps make utterly no sense to me. Unless somebody wants to explain to me how this one does….?
[img] i.imgur.com/hEIoQde.jpg?1[/img]
Hey, if it has a 13B bolt pattern on the tube you can easily swap that mill for a Renesis. That way you can have all of the expense and complexity of the original P-engine, still with none of the torque!
I love rotaries. However the original 3.0 had 225 ft/lbs of torque, which is what makes it so fun to drive…that and the perfectly balanced handling. Being able to squirt the car out of corners while slightly drifting the rear is the result of that 3.0
The number one rule of an engine swap is 1. Always swap in more, not less
The only thing you are getting more of is revs, and definitely less performance here.
Might want to drive off the Edmunds ferry dock with this one !
Soooooo basically you are buying this ?
[img] rx7convertible.com/RX7%20Main%20Copyrighted3.jpg[/img]
This seems like a perfect LeMons candidate. Plenty of good parts to sell off to make budget.
Non-turbo 2nd-gen RX-7 had a 6-port 13B, not a 4-port. 2nd gen styling was influenced by the 944, not 924.
This thing has been for sale for at least a year and a half. I wish I could remember where it started price wise, something stupid I'm sure.