If the saying “find a way or make one” were a car, it would likely look a lot like this Lexus V8-powered Subaru Justy. That’s a huge engine for such a tiny hatchback and there’s no easy or straightforward way to install it, yet United Kingdom-based J&J Vehicle Engineering found a way to make it fit after strapping a pair of turbochargers to it. The result looks, sounds, and accelerates almost like a 1980s Group B rally car.
James Dominik started the project with a 1988 Justy that his parents bought in 1995 and later took off the road, as he told YouTube channel Twin Engine Corsa. While some might be tempted to keep the car of their childhood in perfect condition, Dominik had a different idea: He initially wanted to replace the factory 1.2-liter three-cylinder with a 1.3-liter four-cylinder sourced from a Suzuki Swift GTI. His concern? You can get only about 300 horsepower out of the Suzuki engine.
Quadrupling the stock power output wasn’t enough, so Dominik began looking for a V8 that would fit in the Justy’s engine bay. Keep in mind that this is in England, where grabbing a 5.7-liter out of a 20-year-old SUV beached at Pick-n-Pull isn’t an option. He settled on a 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE V8, which was found in the Lexus LS 400 among other models, and rebuilt it from the ground up. The eight-cylinder features forged connecting rods and pistons, according to Engine Swap Depot, and it’s fitted with two Garrett GT35 turbos that poke out through the hood like a pair of bug eyes.
Next, the hard part: putting it all together. There are a lot of Nissan 200SX-sourced parts under the Justy’s boxy body, including the floor pan and parts of the front suspension, and the whole thing is bolted to a homemade chassis. Dominik estimates the twin-turbo V8’s output at over 600 horsepower, which is enough for an 11.7-second quarter-mile at 122 mph. He ultimately plans to double the engine’s output by adding boost.
While the Justy originally featured a part-time four-wheel-drive system, which was a big part of its appeal when it was new, Dominik’s build gets a drift-friendly rear-wheel-drive layout. The V8’s output reaches the extra-large rear tires via a Tremec Magnum six-speed manual transmission, a custom-built driveshaft, and a Ford-sourced nine-inch rear end that has been narrowed. I can’t imagine what this Justy would look like had the rear end been left stock: the rear track is so wide as-is that the wheels are covered by wheel arch flares you could place a cup of coffee on.
Dominik made extensive modifications to the interior as well. He notably added a roll cage and pair of sport seats for the driver and whoever is brave enough to ride shotgun, but he cleverly kept some of the original bits and pieces. The factory five-speed manual’s shift knob is linked to the launch control function, while the Justy’s rather cheap-looking steering wheel remains. The original headlight switches are still installed, too.
The most impressive part of the build is that nearly everything needed to V8-swap an old Subaru city car was made by hand; the project took approximately seven years. You can buy off-the-shelf kits to help you drop, say, a Chevrolet small-block V8 into a first-generation Miata, but there’s no kit for dropping a Lexus V8 into a 1980s Justy. The resources, creativity, and skill that went into the build are astonishing.
Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com