When I think of drift cars, my mind goes to a rotary-powered RX-7. This Ford Crown Victoria with a twin-turbo Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine is pretty much the opposite of that. It has 12 pistons instead of two (or three or four) rotors, 27 liters of displacement, and a comically low redline instead of a zinging Wankel. However, it shreds tires as well as any JDM hero out there, and as you’re about to see, it’ll smoke ’em at just 2,000 rpm.
It’s borderline unsettling to hear this machine drift around with an exhaust note like a dump truck’s at highway speeds. It’s the brainchild of Daniel Werner, who’s been working on the Meteor Interceptor project in Sweden for the past four years. We first wrote about it back in 2020 and now, it’s a runner-driver with some next-level creative thinking put into practice.
That big ol’ tank engine made 650 horsepower and 1,622 lb-ft of torque on the dyno, and that was without the pair of BorgWarner S500SX turbos. Werner estimates it’s good for 2,500 hp and 3,800 lb-ft of torque with the whirlers spinning. Finding a dyno that’ll hold that much is understandably tough, but all you have to do is watch it in action to know it’s making more than enough to have fun with.
A quick glance at the digital gauge cluster shows the Crown Vic’s ridiculously low idle speed of about 500 rpm. That’s even lower than a big diesel engine. Tire smoke starts filling the cabin around 1,700 rpm and I didn’t see a readout higher than 2,600 rpm. Still, the tail is wagging and the rubber is screaming.
It’s hard to know what to compare it to because while it’s clearly no rotary, it isn’t silent like an EV either.
Werner apparently wants the Meteor Interceptor to run Autobahn speeds. Interestingly, it only has a three-speed TH400 automatic like you’d find in an older GM truck. The plain-and-simple gearbox is far from stock, though, as it was actually just repaired following an early test run that broke the poor transmission. I mean, it’s understandable.
I just want a ride in this thing. And since I have a family to raise, I’d rather it be on a skidpad than a German superhighway. This has to be the most fun you can have under 20 mph.
Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com