There has been a number of Porsche builds in recent years that have been the recipient of engines from other manufacturers. From American V8s in everything from 914s to 996s, to that perverse Toyota 1NZ-FE swapped 1975 911 that was floating around a while back, it seems that people have started shoving less expensive mechanicals into the engine compartment to get around expensive P-car engine replacement. While I understand the limits of certain gearhead’s budgets, who thought this was a good idea?

[Source: Seattle Craigslist] 

From the ad: (note that the CarDomain build thread is now a dead link)

Porsche 968 – Perfect Spring Ride – $7600 (Tacoma)

1992 Porsche 968 Cabriolet. Black, straight, runs great, good black top, garaged. These scarce beauties were built for a few years, between the 944S and the Boxster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_968_CS

We acquired from Aerospace Engineer who installed custom rotary engine. Low miles and thorough documentation. 

Total blast to drive. A car show favorite. 

Need my garage back;

$7600, would consider part trade for vintage pick up

See the builder’s blog @ http://www.cardomain.com/ride/646433/1984-mazda-rx-7/page-7/.

David

 

Judging by the pictures, the swap looks relatively professionally done, and probably removes a decent hunk of weight from the car, now unburdened of its 3.0 liter twin-cam 4-cylinder. While removing weight is great in most cases, in this one I’m not so sure. First, because that 3 liter engine is among the sweetest engines Porsche has ever made, and secondly, because the 968 was endowed with an almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution from the factory. When combined with that sweet 6-speed transaxle with an excellent limited-slip differential, the 968 was a phenomenally capable car, especially for one based on a chassis design from 1976 (with lower control arms based on those of the MkI VW Rabbit).

Sadly, the build thread showed (when it was active) that this 968 now has a front-mounted Mazda 5-speed transmission, rather than the aforementioned 6-speed ZF box. That, unfortunately, means this car reaps none of the benefits of magnificent weight balance of the 968, and none of the light-weight agility of the RX7. It is possibly the worst of both worlds.

My guess is that the original owner of this 968 had an issue with the timing belt (that sweet 3-liter is an interference motor), and it lunched its internals in catastrophic fashion. I’m also guessing that the builder just happened to have a spare RX7 engine and transmission laying around, making this a marriage of convenience. As a comment on a forum I frequent put it, I think best, “We climbed Everest because it was there, not because it was a good idea!” If that isn’t the best representation of this build, I’ll eat my hat. 

Who knows?  It might be fun in a strange way.

Source: The Grassroots Motorsports Forum

Bradley C. Brownell is an Editor with Hooniverse.com, but he also contributes to his own site “BavarianDrive“. Head over there for more of his work.