There are enthusiasts that can never leave well enough alone. A car might be perfectly fine stock, but once we catch sight of the same car with some tastefully done mods it’s all downhill. Then there’s the engine. It starts with an intake, maybe a header, but then you come across a magazine where someone managed to marry two unexpected ingredients.
It’s all good and well to commit to whatever stock lump is taking up space under the bonnet. But once the what-ifs start flowing, even I tear off into Neverland to build all the things I would if my wallet, significant other, or the California Air Resources Board would allow it.
But there’s already an abundance of crazy folks out there building cars that few would even begin to dream about. There’s pro drifter Ryan Tuerck shoving a Ferrari V8 into a Toyota GT86. There’s also a gentleman who saw fit to put a Viper V10 into a Honda S2000. And there’s Renegade Hybrids, a shop in Nevada that makes child’s play out of endowing 911s with the Sound of Freedom.
Someday I’ll get around to building at least one of the following combos:
The Lightweight – NA Mazda Miata with Toyota 20v 4A-GE
One of the biggest appeals of the Miata is its reliability and ease of maintenance. The Mazda B Series motors just don’t break. But they also don’t do anything for me. With Toyota’s four pot, twin-cam, five valve per cylinder, individual throttle bodied singer under the hood, I’d have just enough to keep me happy. Just enough power, just enough top end character, and definitely just enough noise to take my 9/10 rating of the Miata to a clear 10/10.
The Middleweight – Mark II Toyota Soarer with Ford Voodoo V8
What’s that? I’m having trouble hearing you. I assume you’re hurling words of disgust and farting in my general direction. And you’re probably asking how I could possibly forsake the silky, melodious, boosty inline-six goodness the factory bestowed upon this car. But I can only assume. Banging off the 8250RPM rev-limiter in every gear, sideways, makes it hard to hear anything save for this rip-snorting, flat-plane crank V8. Especially if, in this imaginary scenario, my Voodoo motivated Toyota is also a Soarer Aerocabin. If you can’t hear the noises playing in my head, check out this post for a good taste.
The Heavyweight – E38 BMW 7 Series with BMW S85B50 V10
Maybe I watched The Transporter a few too many times, or maybe it was Tomorrow Never Dies. Either way, I love a big sedan that can hustle. Something in particular about 1990’s BMW styling just looks right when it’s scaled up to flagship level. And while I’m well aware it’s not a sports car, that doesn’t mean I can’t spice things up a bit with an all alloy, high compression V10 with all the naturally aspirated bells and whistles that current BMW has left for dead. The normal wheelbase version of the E38 7 Series was even in spitting distance of the curb weight of the E60 5 Series, from whom we’re borrowing this motor. Oddly, this pie in the sky is the one that whets my appetite the most. What better combination to entertain or scare multiple friends at once?
There’s loads of cars out there that absolutely beg for more interesting power plants. People have been dropping Rotary engines into Datsuns forever, and the trend of wedging small block Chevys into all of the things shows no sign of slowing. But there’s tons more mash-ups out there that need to be shared.
Feel free to do so below!
Glad you aren’t thinking of putting an LS motor in every single one of these chassis. Very thoughtful combinations. Loving the blog!