Tag: chassis-swap

Datsun 411 / MX5

We need people like Bob. People with vision, people who have skills and love putting them to good use, people who have the itch to continue creating cool cars, time and time again. You might remember Bob from one of his previous projects that also graced these pages, the MX520. It seems that stuffing Mazda MX5 running gear under Datsun bodies is obviously something Bob loves doing, because he’s back to his old tricks, this time with a Datsun 411 wagon on the receiving end of the grinder.

Click here for more chassis-swap builds.

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Bagged Porsche Dually

Not the kind of title you’d see every day, right? After overwhelming feedback on the Facebook page, I bring you this very unique piece of machinery. What was originally a Porsche 911 is now merely a Stuttgart shell sitting atop a Chevy pickup dually chassis, with a 454 V8 and 4-speed, riding on air. The build isn’t finished, the thread goes cold after just over 2 pages. If anyone knows what ever happened to this thing, please let me know!

Thanks to Samuli for submitting. Click here for more Porsche builds.

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Driftworks 2013 ASCAR/AE86

After extracting a very impressive amount of track time from their previous drift car, a 2JZ S15, the staff at Driftworks are about to embark on a properly bonkers build for 2013. Their plan is to take the chassis from an ASCAR (British NASCAR equivalent) and drape the body of an AE86 around it. Sounds like a perfect candidate for the chassis-swap post tag to me! Head below to find out how to follow their progress.

UPDATE: (March 2014) Car is now pretty much complete, and it’s amazing. New pics below.

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Toyota Starlet / Volvo 240

Time for another one of our favourite types of builds, where the mad scientists of the car world decide to take two unsuspecting cars and morph them into a single automotive frankenstein. I’m talking, of course, about chassis swaps. This time it’s a Toyota Starlet having it’s insides removed, while a Volvo 240 donates it’s underpinnings and drivetrain, giving us a RWD Swedish powered Starlet.

Thanks to Jose for submitting.

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Saab 96/9-3

It’s time for another chassis-swap build, and this time the donor car and recipient are both Saabs. The builders are combining the classic shell of a Saab 96 with the modern underpinnings of a Saab 9-3, with the goal of creating a little unassuming Swedish track tearer.

Thanks to James from Car Throttle for submitting.

Update: This build is now complete, I have added new images and links at the bottom of the post.

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VW Beetle / Porsche Boxster

I can’t believe it’s been over a year since the last chassis swap build was featured, especially considering it’s one of the most popular and impressive forms of construction. This latest one takes a couple of specimens from the Porsche/VW bloodline and meshes them together, creating a Boxster S chassis and driveline hidden beneath an aircooled Beetle body.

Thanks to Matt from roadster life for submitting
(via Motoring Con Brio via Ralf Becker)

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1959 Ford Thames / BMW 2002

Here’s another build to go with the other chassis-swap projects that have been previously featured. This time it’s a 1959 Ford Thames van being sat on top of a shortened BMW 2002 chassis, built by it’s owner, Mike Pugh. Kindly submitted by Mikael.

So, after featuring a handful of projects like this, it begs the question; what would your ultimate chassis-swap project be?

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Civic / WRX

A few people have emailed me this build including Leon & also Logan from i put in WORK. I originally wasn’t going to post it because it’s pretty much all over the ‘net already, but then I realised that this is Build Threads and it needs to be here if at least for the sake archiving purposes! So here it is, the car you’ve probably already seen, an EG Civic body sitting on top of a WRX. It’s not pretty, but it does the job.

This is not the first time I’ve featured two cars spliced together, so if you’re a fan of this kind of swap you might also like the following hybrid grafts;

I’ve now created a new tag for all of these builds called “chassis swap” (for lack of a better term), so you can easily find them in the tag cloud.

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MX520

Here’s a build thread I’ve been reading for quite a long time, and I’ve got a slight suspicion that a lot of you are going to enjoy it. It’s another build based on the “X-chassis underneath Y-body” formula, and this time the culprits are Mazda MX5 subframes/driveline/shock towers being attached to the body of a Datsun 520 pickup.

When it all comes together after a long and creative build process, Bob takes his DIY hybrid creation to the track and shows up some much more expensive machinery. Here’s a small snippet from one of his race outing results to give you an idea:

Position 3 – 1:08.886 – 1966 Datsun MX520
Position 4 – 1:10.366 – 2003 Corvette Z06

You can’t help but sit back and smile when that happens. Check after the jump to see how this track day sleeper was built…

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Vauxhall Cresta XJR

Here’s another classic body on top of a modern chassis build. I wonder if this style of building will be the way of the future, keeping classics alive on the surface with modern drive-trains and suspension powering them from underneath.

This one combines the shell of a classic Vauxhall Cresta with the guts of a 2001 Jaguar XJR.

Thanks to Peter from petrolthreads.co.uk for submitting this one.

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