The need to constantly want to have a faster, more powerful car is only natural for car lovers around the world. But how you go about it can make a huge difference. Trading in a Honda Civic EX for a Type R seems a natural choice, but sometimes that won't do—sometimes we just can't let go of that old Civic— and the urge to make it the very best it could ever be starts to kick in.
Maybe a common B-series swap from an old Integra, the more modern K-series perhaps? Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, whether you fancy Hondas, Porsches, VWs, or even Ladas. People have put together some amazing builds—taking a few months to years to complete—and the results are all unique and usually a vast improvement over their counterparts.
History has seen engines swapped into just about anything. Bootleggers in the 1940s prohibition era swapped in whatever they could get their hands on to make their cars faster and more powerful, and the trend has since carried on. A Ford V8 was a popular option in those days, while now, myriad options exist with Chevy LS and Honda K-series swaps being a couple of the more popular options.
Electric motors are trickling their way into the swap trend, as well. (Have you seen the Teslonda yet? That thing is sick!) Making this list, I took into account diversity among unique swaps (still throwing in the occasional LS swap for good measure). From a K20 Gen 1 Civic to a Jet-Powered Dodge Caravan, imagination is the only limit, and what glorious imaginations these builds reveal!
25 No-Sense: K20-swapped Gen 1 Honda Civic
In 2008, Roger Young, an experienced builder of drag cars, started building up his 1979 Honda Civic 1200. The car originally had a 1200cc motor with only about 50,000 miles on the clock. Young had bought the car and taken it to his shop to be steadily resto-modded over a 5 year period. In that time the front had been re-fabricated using the components of an EP3 Si as inspiration. He then fit a naturally-aspirated K20 in there, which after some modifying, pushed out 240 horses. That may not sound like a whole lot, but in a car that weighs a mere 1500 pounds, it is more than enough power to make this little car move.
24 No-Sense: 351 Cleveland-swapped DeLorean DMC-12
I'm sure we've all seen the Matt Farah video of the LSX swapped DeLorean (which is the one pictured above as I couldn't find a good picture of the build I really want to talk about.) Reading the forums of DMCTalk.org, I came across a DMC DeLorean with a 351 Cleveland and a DeTomaso Pantera transmission swapped in. The car had the conversion done by a shop in Illinois back in the mid-80s, so finding info on this car was difficult, and as far as I know, it's sitting in Kansas somewhere, owned by an older man who wants to sell it for $50k. Until pictures and videos surface, we'll all just have to imagine the sound of a cast-iron 351 Cleveland coming out of an original DeLorean.
23 No-Sense: Jeep Wagoneer with a Ferrari 365 GTC4 V12
Originally powered by an AMC V8, this 1977 Jeep Wagoneer was outfitted with a Ferrari motor (from another Wagoneer that had the 365 front-end, too) for the founder of Harrah's Hotel and Casino, William Harrah.
He wanted a four-wheel-drive sports car to commute from Reno to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, without any issues in the snow.
He did this with a Ford C4 transmission, which was then attached to the Quadratrack drivetrain. The 340-hp motor could propel the Wagoneer to a 140 mph top speed. The 'Jerrari' sits in the National Museum in Reno, Nevada, among many other cars from William Harrah's humongous collection.
22 No Sense: 13B Rotary-swapped VW Thing
According to bringatrailer.com, this Thing is fully modified with wider fender flares and a custom mesh grill to allow air to the front mounted radiator. Between the 8-holed plates that also allow better air circulation lies a 13B rotary from a Mazda FC, well that's at least what we can muster from the "Mazdaspeed" badges on the hood. From the dune-buggy set-up and a 5-speed transmission, the fun factor is high. Weird has never looked so cool, though as much as I tried, I failed in finding anything more than when this Thing went up for sale back in 2016, leaving us to wonder what this Thing looks like in action.
21 No-Brainer: Garrett Turbo B16A2-Swapped Mid-Engine Honda Del Sol
In a sea of Hondas with B-series motor swaps, this one stands out as the best. The Del Sol originally left the factory as a front-engined, front-wheel drive competitor to the Mazda Miata. It never could size up, though, often getting over-looked in favor of more proper Civic sports cars like the CRX. Bennie's mid-engined swap turns this Del Sol into what I think it should've been from the factory. He took the front end off of an EG Civic and trimmed it up a bit to be fitted in the rear. Build Threads did an awesome video about Bennie's Del Sol, I recommend a watch for anyone interested in learning more about this wicked build.
20 No-Brainer: Toyota V12-Powered Porsche 928
Built in a shed set behind a church, this Porsche 928 looks unassuming at first glance, but closer inspection reveals large rotors and Wilwood calipers. It takes popping the hood to reveal this beauty's true secrets, though.
A rare Toyota V12 fits tightly under the hood making just over 300 hp and 355 ft-lb of torque, while driving the wheels through a six-speed Corvette transaxle.
This build is strides beyond simply improving the 928 with the LS power that can be had easily in this country, turning instead to the land of the rising sun. Videos of the car can be found on Jeff Mauldin's Youtube page, Dinsdale Piranha.
19 No-Brainer: Lincoln Continental with a Mercedes V12
Imported from Texas to England by Shabir Uddin, this 1977 Lincoln originally came with a 225-hp 460 C.I. V8. He decided against trying to stroke the choked-down V8, and instead swapped an M120 6.0-liter V12 from a Mercedes S600 L.
According to EngineSwapDepot.com, the conversion included changing a lot under the hood, such as motor mounts, the power steering system, the radiator, and the oil pan.
All this work took about 8 months to complete by F&R engineering and MS2 tuning, but the result has to be the smoothest-riding Continental around, and it's sure no slouch with 400 horsepower pushing this luxury land-barge.
18 No Sense: Powerstroked Honda Civic EG
Sitting sort of cartoonishly in the engine bay of this Civic EG Hatch is a twin-turbo Powerstroke built by Outlaw Deisels of Miami. As crazy as it looks, according to Drivingline.com, the Civic puts down around 600 horsepower, which propels the 3,500-lb compact down a quarter mile in a little under 10 seconds. (Some more searching through the Facebook page reveals another motor swap utilizing a Cummins.) Either way, this is a different build, for sure, especially compared to what we're used to seeing diesel engines swapped in to. As strange as it is to look at, I'm interested in seeing what happened to this odd-ball looney Civic.
17 No-Sense: Dodge Grand Caravan with a Rolls-Royce Helicopter motor
While scrolling through videos on Youtube, this Caravan attracted my attention. The video starts with a seemingly innocent minivan squealing a little tire before rolling up to the starting line. So far, I expected this was just a dad blowing off some steam by taking the family van drag racing.
But when the rear doors swing open just a tad, you get a hint of what's going on, and then the rear window swings down to reveal those two huge exhaust ducts!
The motor whirs to life and after a little smoke and fire, the Caravan is off! This shaft-driven Caravan may still sport stock combustion engine in the front, but the rear wheels are powered by a 1000-hp Rolls-Royce Nimbus 105 that originally propelled Westland Scouts used by the British army. It may have had military action, but nowadays this motor lives the easy life, pushing a minivan to 7-second quarter mile times.
16 No-Brainer: Cummins-powered Cadillac Hearse
Whoever thought of putting a wicked 1990 Cummins diesel into a 1978 Cadillac Hearse is a kind of crazy that can be inspiring. Originally coming with a huge 7.0-liter V8 (making a measly 195 hp) when the car was made, an insane genius named Kevin has replaced the restricted V8 with an insane 12-valve turbo-Cummins. I've experienced this car first hand while driving home, and while the sheer size of the car alone is enough to intimidate, the romping of the diesel motor makes this car down-right terrifying to look back at. All kidding aside, this build is one of the neatest and most unique swaps I've ever experienced.
15 No-Brainer: Honda B18-swapped Chevy Corvair
Another personal experience in this article comes in the form of a Honda B-20 swapped Chevy Corvair. Sitting at a gas station in Massachusetts, a friend and I happened upon the sleek classic convertible as the owner was looking down at his phone.
We pulled up alongside, only to discover we both were looking for the same car meet that had moved locations.
A couple of minutes later we were staring at the Corvair's heart, where a B20 had been swapped in place of the original Chevy 4-cylinder, which upped it from the 140 horses you'd get stock to 218 thanks in part to a turbo from a Saab 9-3. It's nice to see a Corvair finally getting the proper performance numbers it deserves, even if it means turning to a foreign market to find the power.
14 No-Brainer: 1939 Plymouth with a 7-cylinder Jacobs
I'm sure most of you have seen this beautiful aircraft rotary-powered Plymouth pickup on either Jay Leno's Garage or Hot Rod Magazine, but for those of you who haven't, let me introduce the 7-cylinder, 757-cubic-inch, rotary-powered Plymouth pickup. The motor is out of a Cessna 195 seaplane that had been sitting for 30 years before it was fitted into this 1939 Plymouth, which has been modified to not only accommodate the odd motor but to take on the look of a war-era fighter plane. And no plane would be complete without a tug to pull it, so this Plymouth has a matching early-40s Clark tug to pull it into car shows.
13 No Sense: LSX-swapped R35 GT-R
Built out of necessity, Steve "Baggsy" Biagioni's wild swap was part of a team of 3 to complete a car to be in Speedhunters Battle Drift 2.
The original plan was to use a GTR's VR38 and import parts, but a time limit of only 10 weeks left them without that option.
Baggsy's plan was then to try and get as much power as he could in the shortest amount of time, and an LSX can produce about 630 hp on its own, while an added Garrett turbocharger (along with a bunch of custom bits) gave the LSX the boost it needs to reach the 1000-hp mark. The motor mixed with a Liberty Walk body kit makes this GTR a really cool drift car that rivals Daigo's Lambo.
12 No-Brainer: 3S-GTE Turbo-powered MR2
This seems to be a popular option for those who want to keep the Toyota heritage in their MR2, but want a turbocharger rather than the supercharger that came stock on some of these.
The desired 3S-GTE is the 190hp turbo out of the Toyota Caldina, which fits snug in the rear of the MR2.
With a set-up that I saw on Matt Farah's One Take series, these can make over 300 horsepower, which I'd say is plenty for a car that weighs around 2,770 pounds. This car has had more work done to it, but proves a really cool car for anyone who wants to keep the weight low in their MR2 while upping the power and retaining the reliability Toyota is so well-known for.
11 No Sense: SR20DET-swapped Lada
A 4.2 seconds 0-62 mph sprint, over 400 horsepower, a low-12 second 1/4 mile time, all caged, lowered, boosted, and more...what else could you want from a simple 4-door Lada?
With the majority of the car replaced by Silvia S13/S14 parts, this Lada still looks like it should, and the full roll cage doesn't constrict on the area of the cabin, which is still roomy enough to fit people in the rear seats.
This Lada is no slouch, though, as a video by SpeedNation displays this Lada taking down a Porsche 911 (which looks to be not just any Porsche, either, but a 997 GT2!) Ladas are known for many things (mostly not so great things) but the fact that this guy took one and made it fast, powerful, and useful is definitely something unique!
10 No-Brainer: Porsche 911-engined VW T1
Porsche swaps into VW's are a common sight among the tuning community since the set-ups are so common among the older models. And it seems like the match was just made to be, as both companies used flat-4s until VW changed over to the more common engines of today, while Porsche continued its heritage to the supercars we see today.
This particular van, nicknamed the "Race-Taxi", had a bi-turbo 1990s-era Porsche 996 engine swapped in.
It may not be so noticeable, but the T1 body is actually widened to accommodate the T3 chassis, and don't think those rear-doors are simply offering easy access to the engine bay: there are Recaro seats in back for anyone willing to sit in them. Every detail has been well thought through and is executed in a terrific fashion, adhering to the idea of a T1 bus with a Porsche's heart.
9 No Sense: Ferrari 308 Electric
A Ferrari... EV?! The only thing close to this classic beauty is the super-exclusive LaFerrari, at least as far as any sort of electric motor goes. But this salvage titled (it was burned up) 308 GTS is indeed fully powered by electricity. Bought for $10,000, it was rebuilt by Electric GT who used a Porsche 911 Turbo trans-axle to transmit the power from 3 AC-51 electric motors which in turn is powered by 48 180-amp-hour lithium-ion battery packs. This set-up gives the 308 415 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, which is 163 hp more than stock, and although the Ferrari loses that beautiful Italian V8 sound, it gains the power a 308 should have had, as well as the reliability that comes with electric motors.
8 No Sense: Hellcat-swapped Toyota Prius
"A Rolling Middle Finger", as stated by Car and Driver, is a perfect way to explain this car. Going against the grain of the stereotypical Prius driver, the idea came from Nick Filippides who stated he was sitting in traffic watching a "conga line" of Priuses cruise by in the HOV lane. A 4.5-liter Whipple supercharger sits atop the Hellcat motor, which also boasts other such upgrades like custom headers done by Nick's co-owned company American Racing Headers. With these upgrades, the "PriuSRT8" makes 800 horsepower, in the most hilarious way possible, though whether it still earns carpool lane access is highly dubious.
7 No Sense: Viper V10-swapped Mack Firetruck
An idea brought around by Roger Brown's wife when Rodger was looking for a project idea, this 1944 Mack was then sent to Tom Stark's shop.
After 14 months of planning and building, the Mack has not only the heart of a Dodge but the drivetrain, as well.
As he mentions, using a rear-end from a 2008 Dodge that was cut down, as well as brakes from the Dodge Ram SRT-10, the truck retains its brass furnishings and is transformed into a beautiful war-era hotrod. Nicknamed "Black Dragon" (slightly ironic) this all-metal machine can go to 150 mph "real fast" according to Tom, and can do some wicked burnouts, too.
6 No-Brainer: Hayabusa Smart Fortwo
Smart Cars are normally an economical take on the world's environmental concerns. This Smart ForTwo though, not so much, as someone got a hold of a model destined for an electric swap that never happened, and instead threw in a Hayabusa four-cylinder along with all the instrumentation—including that 11,000 RPM redline! The custom-widened rear track was done by Body Works of Chicago and it looks a little silly to be sure, but this Smart (nicknamed Smarticus) is one of the best ways I've seen someone make the super eco-friendly Smart car quite a bit peppier and a little less friendly.