Currently for sale in California, this Porsche shows what’s really possible with an engine swap.
The Flat-6 has been the staple of the Porsche 911 range since its birth over 50 years ago. It is an engine as intrinsic to the 911 as water is to the ocean. But despite nothing appearing out of the ordinary with this particular 1981 911 Targa, a rather large surprise sits in the engine bay.
In place of the relatively small Flat-6 is an absolutely monstrous 8.2L V8 taken from a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado. As much of a nightmare as such a heart transplant may sound however, the current owner — who undertook the work 12 years ago — says that it wasn’t such a big deal.
According to him, it was just a case of building new mounts for the engine, a custom radiator and exhaust system, and various adapters. The Porsche also uses the Cadillac’s 3-speed automatic transmission, which was made to cope with the power and torque the motor produces.
When it first came out of the factory, this behemoth produced 400bhp and 550lbs-ft of torque. While the current torque figure hasn’t been disclosed by the owner, the power is said to be 537bhp as verified on a dyno. And that’s a frightening amount of oomph to have in such a light car when such a high percentage of its mass is focused over the rear-axle.
Interestingly, as the engine and gearbox come straight out of a front engined, front wheel drive transaxle, the Porsche’s rear-engined, rear-wheel drive layout meant it was simply a case of flipping the drivetrain around.
Currently, this car is for sale on eBay from a private seller in California. At the time of writing this article, the top bid is $16,500. But you can keep up to date with what happens by looking at the ad by clicking here.
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Written by: Angelo Uccello
Twitter: @AngeloUccello
Tribe: Speed Machines
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