Sweden; where else would you find someone building an M60 V8 (twin turbo, of course) powered BMW M1 Group 5 replica? The owner/builder has already built an AWD Turbo V8 Volvo Amazon that was completed rather quickly, so this considered his long-term project, with a track-ready date of 2020 on the cards.
Thanks to David for submitting. Not enough M1 for you? Check out this previously featured build. Want more insane builds from the Scandinavian region? Klicka här!
I’m not sure what to say about this one, I’m pretty gobsmacked! If you like Formula 1, engineering, and…uh…old Volvos, then this one’s for you. What we’re looking at is a Volvo 360 with a turbo AND supercharged power-plant, peppered with an assortment of genuine F1 parts like wings, diffuser, wheels, hubs and wishbone suspension, built by a Mr Peter Schmidt. If you’ve seen Speedhunters latest post, you might have seen the finished product already, but I think the build thread is worth a mention too. I’m sure they’ll do a spotlight on the car soon, so we can see the completed car in detailed hi-res shots. I’ll be sure to update this post with a link once that happens.
Thanks to Jasper for submitting. Click Here for more Scandinavian builds. Click Here for more Volvo builds.
What do you do with yourself after building a V10-powered E30? You do it all over again, this time with a slightly more exotic subject. This Lotus Exige gets stretched and widened in order to fit the M5-sourced 10-cylinder power-plant, culminating in a very sleek and capable supercar-fighter that gets put through it’s paces at the track.
Thanks to Maarten for submitting. Click here for more Lotus builds. Click here for more BMW builds.
This build has been sitting in my drafts folder for two years, TWO WHOLE YEARS! I’m always fighting with myself over posting builds before they’re complete, but this one is just too good to sit on, so I figured it was finally time (plus I like posting follow-ups on popular builds as they evolve). This pro-touring Pontiac Firebird resides in Sweden, and is being transformed with great attention to detail and craftsmanship during a love affair spanning 16 years. There’s plenty of fabrication and CAD design to keep you more than entertained, from big suspension components to the smallest detailed bracketry, and the photos are all top notch. Apart from the build thread you can also follow this extremely thorough project on it’s dedicated Facebook page, which you’ll find at the bottom of the post.
Click here for more Pro Touring builds. Click here for more Scandinavian builds.
Don’t forget, Build-Threads.com is now on Instagram. Buy Build Threads stickers here.
I love how Volvos are the domestic “do it all” cars of the Scandinavian region. They get pulled apart and re-built in a host of different ways that the rest of the world would never dare. This 242 begins it’s build thread with a BMW v10 already nestled in the engine bay, and things only get more serious from there on in. I wish there was some more technical imagery to go with this one, but it’s still a great build and won’t take you too long to get through.
More images and words available via this Speedhunters feature: click.
Submitted by Harald. Click here for more Volvo builds. Click here for more Scandinavian builds.
If you haven’t heard of Makela Auto Tuning before, allow me the honour of introducing you to the Finnish gods of auto restoration. They specialise in ex-Works rally and race cars, and like to document their work in galleries with hundreds (if not thousands!) of images. This isn’t the first time I’ve featured their work, you can read about a bunch of their projects by clicking here. Since it’s been a while between drinks, I thought I’d show you this fantastic restoration of a Ferrari 308 GTB rally car. Oh, there’s only 1764 images of the build. Yes, you read that right, over ONE THOUSAND images.
CLICK HERE for more Scandinavian builds.
I feel as though I’ve been moving away from the original intentions of this website, and that is linking you to interesting builds from around the world. What I mean by that is, I think the site-hosted builds like the Ferrari F40, Honda City Turbo II, EG Civic/S15 Silvia, and my own garage build have distracted me from posting those unique threads from various forums. Not that those builds aren’t interesting – and they’re a hell of a lot more work for me to set up – it’s just that this site was built on finding and sharing builds from external forums. So here we go, back into the swing of things with a completely custom built car from Sweden. The fiberglass body is influenced by 1970’s race cars like the GT40 and Lola, with a 3.2L Alfa Romeo V6 for motivation. Thanks to HÃ¥kan for submitting, this is his own build.
So what do you think, do you prefer being linked to builds on forums? Or do you enjoy reading builds that are completely hosted on this site? I’d love to hear your thoughts…
When I was a kid, Porsches were only owned by doctors or business men, or plastered on bedroom walls of kids like me. Now it’s more than obvious that the once unreachable German exotics are firmly in the grasps of people like you and I who like to tear things apart and put them back together any which way we choose. I like that, very much.
This Porka started it’s life as a 1983 targa-top, which at some point had a hardtop roof grafted on to it. That’s how Petter from Sweden found it, in a sorry state but with the roof swap already done (even though he would tweak it later to make it perfect). A full rebuild then took place, set off by an RSR body kit and some big Fuch’s to seal the deal, along with the face-smacking bright green paint. I think what I love the most about this build is the crystal clear photos that Petter takes, it makes me feel like I’m right there with him along the way. Strangely, my favourite phase of the build is seeing the car in all different colours before it was painted, what the hell is wrong with me?!
Click here for more Porsche builds. Click here for more Scandinavian builds.
Just when I think I’ve seen it all, when I think I can’t possibly be surprised at what pops up in my inbox, along comes Anders with his gas-turbined powered motorbike. When I actually figured out what I was looking at, all I could do is sit back and laugh in amazement. I consider myself so lucky that people like Anders want to email me their amazing projects, built using techniques that I can’t even begin to comprehend. To get to the point, I’ll let him explain what he’s got cooking…
I just found your website and thought I should show you my little project that has been going for 4 years and counting, it is a scratch built gas turbine motorcycle with which I aim to set a land speed record in the APS/Omega class at Bonneville Speed Week.
The turboshaft gas turbine is built by myself around a Garrett TV94 rotor with everything cast, turned and milled on my manual tools at home, I´ve spent three years on it and now I am about to test it for the second time in the bike frame. It should be capable of producing somewhere between 150-180hp on the rear wheel once everything is tuned in.
If you like milling, machining, lathes, jets, flames, welding, casting…hell, if you like anything mechanical, you’re going to love this. Don’t forget to check out the test video at the end of the post, and another bonus video of something else Anders and his crazy Swedish mates have added jet propulsion to. All hail the Scandinavians.
What is this I don’t even? Apparently the VW Fridolin was designed as a postal service car, something I never knew (thank you Wikipedia). Somehow I think this particular one’s mail hauling days are over, especially considering it’s W12 (yes, W-freaking-twelve!) power-plant and Touareg rear end.
Thanks to Henning for submitting.
Click here for more VW builds.
