Project Car Hell, Alphabet Soup Edition: TVR or NSU?

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time around, we saw the Chevy-powered RX-7 beat the Nissan-powered Corona in the race to the Lake Of Fire, according to the results of the Choose Your Eternity poll. Before you've slipped beneath the sulf'rous waves in your vintage Japanese machine, however, you might want to check out the acronymic torment fun to be had with today's choices. We can thank- if that's the right word- our latest PCH Tipster T-shirt recipient, Thunder, for those choices (and today's title).

When we think about NSU Hell, we usually think about the NSU Wankel Spider, the first production vehicle to boast a kinda-functional Wankel engine. However, NSU made piston-engined machines as well, and you could be the first in your city, state, and maybe time zone to have one! Where on earth could you possibly find one for your next project, you ask? On eBay, of course, where a '67 NSU Type 110 awaits you! The seller claims there's not much rust, though you will find "a number of dents." The engine doesn't work, but you get a whole bunch of parts- hey, with 15 pistons to choose from, you should be able to find one good set, right? No title, car rolls "with some friction." Easy!
That NSU would be a hoot, but say you're looking for something with more dangerous spirited performance? It wouldn't be right to swap out the NSU's original engine, but what if you had a British sports car with the not-at-all-rare Ford Cologne V6? Nobody would shed any tears if you ditched that engine for something with way too much a bit more power, we're pretty sure. So here's whatcha do: Buy this 1985 TVR 280i for $2,500, then whip out the tape measure and get the biggest V8 you can almost fit under the hood. The interior is "original and complete," but others might choose different words (such as "rough" or "beat") to describe it. The windshield is cracked, but a few phone calls to Britain and a few bucks for international oversized fragile shipping will solve that problem.