Did you watch ever Mad Max: Fury Road and feel like you wanted to drive one of their hand-made, post-apocalyptic death-traps on public roads? Well that seems to be what obscure car builder Devon West thought when he stuffed a Chrysler V8 into the trunk of an MGB Roadster to create one of the craziest, most dangerous, and yet most incredible builds I’ve ever seen.
The 1979 MGB originally used a 1.8-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine and a four-speed manual transmission, to drive the rear wheels. It also weighed less than 2,500 pounds, making it a featherweight by today’s standards. However, West was having none of that. Instead he decided to rip out its tiny four-pot (which probably didn’t run anyway) and stick in a 318-cubic-inch Chrysler V8 from a ’66 Dodge Charger. Except that monster engine wouldn’t fit in the MGB’s tiny engine bay. So he stuck it in the trunk.
However, to make the Chrysler V8 power the rear wheels, without modifying a rear transaxle to fit, West sent the power forward, through a Chrysler A-727 three-speed automatic transmission, to a Humvee NGP 242 transfer case in the engine bay, which seems to be held in place via chain. That transfer case then sent power rearward, to the MG’s rear axle to power the rear wheels but, for the rear end to fit it all and manage the weight of a V8, it needed a modified Jeep CJ5 rear suspension. So the back end is actually lifted, sitting on steel wheels and General Grabber AT all-terrain tires. It’s flat-out bonkers.
From the driver’s seat, you can actually touch the driveshaft that runs through the cabin. You actually have to reach over it to grab the handbrake. You’d better not drive this car with long hair or it might get caught in the U-joint, giving you an impromptu buzz-cut. Thankfully, West didn’t need to install a wind-deflector for the cabin, as the V8’s radiator doubles as one. If you need to stop quickly, which you very well might due to having a rear-mounted V8 in a sub-2,500-pound convertible, you’ll have to rely on Dodge Neon front brakes. Yikes.
I won’t lie to you, I love this car. Don’t get me wrong–it’s insane. But the ingenuity behind it is impressive and there’s something really fun about the “I don’t care how it works, as long as it works” mentality behind it. I wouldn’t drive it, because I’d likely need a tetanus shot afterwards, but I love the fact that it exists. Now I wanna watch Mad Max.