Car creativity knows no bounds, and ridiculous engine swaps are especially the spice of life. There are a lot of straight-up weird builds, like a VW Beetle turned into a pickup truck, or a heavy-duty truck with a Mack truck cab, but finding a weird build with a mainstream starting point is rare. Prepare for a string of words that make no sense together: You can buy a 2004 Nissan 350Z with a twin-turbo Bentley W12 and ZF eight-speed automatic transmission swap for roughly $40,000.
Listed on Engine Swap Depot, the 350Z was built for drifting in Poland by Gregor Performance Garage. It uses the 6.0-liter W12 from a Bentley Continental GT, complete with aftermarket twin turbos mounted in front of the engine. Twin EMU Black ECUs run the show, while a transmission adapter allows the huge W12 to bolt to a ZF 8HP70 eight-speed automatic gearbox controlled by a Turbo Lamik TCU. The combo is good for a gargantuan 818 horsepower at a diesel-like 5,100 rpm and 895 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, with the power curve looking more like a power plateau.
The car has a roll cage, though it might not be certified for any major competitions. Visually, I can see bolt-in H-style door bars and no footwell intrusion bars, which disqualifies the car from most pro-level drifting competitions. And the use of the ZF 8HP is interesting, and something that is taking hold in drifting recently along with the BMW dual-clutch swap. Using an aftermarket TCU, the ZF 8HP can be programmed to clutch kick like a manual while shifting seamlessly like a sequential.
Of course, it also has an aggressive widebody kit and wing, as well as custom suspension arms and uprights. It’s ridiculous and has enough torque to pull a house down. And it could be yours.
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