<![CDATA[Jalopnik: corrado]]> http://tags.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png <![CDATA[Jalopnik: corrado]]> http://jalopnik.com/tag/corrado http://jalopnik.com/tag/corrado <![CDATA[PCH, No Escape From Engine-Swapped Porsches Edition: VR6 914 or Corvair 912?]]> Perhaps you breathed a sigh of relief after Chevy-Powered Porsche Hell was over with, figuring that (with the small-block-motivated 911 winning so decisively) you would be spared the temptation of a hacked-up Porsche sporting a non-Stuttgart engine for quite a while. However Project Car Hell doesn't work that way; just because you were able to walk past the fiery gates once doesn't mean you won't be lured right back in by the same kind of bait! That's why we're returning to Porsche Engine Swap Hell today, this time going for six cylinders instead of eight.


914 owners often talk about the 914-6 when that starts-with-a-V car manufacturer is brought up. Yes, if it has a Porsche emblem on the hood and a six-cylinder engine in back, it's got to be a real Porsche, right? Not so fast, though- what if you were to put a Volkswagen six-cylinder in your 914? What would you have then? We're not sure, but you'll be sure to come up with an answer to that question soon after buying this 1974 Porsche 914 with Volkswagen VR6 engine (go here if the ad disappears). Yes, someone has gone ahead and swapped the VR6 engine out of a '93 Corrado into a Porsche 914, then slapped on a fiberglass body kit for good measure. Don't worry about the quality of the swap, because the seller assures us that a "30 year professional" (professional beekeeper? bathysphere repairman? ocarina player?) did the work; however, you should be aware that this project "needs alot, but its a great start." There's no cooling system, but you'll sort that out right after you figure out where to put the fuel tank. Hey, how about adding the supercharger off a G60 Corrado while you're at it?

When you hear the name "Porsche," what comes to mind? Aside from Ferdinand's ripoff of Tatra's patents, that is? That's right, you think of the 911 (and its identical-looking sibling, the 912)! So why beat yourself senseless trying to get a crazy engine-swapped 914 working when you could just as easily push a crazy engine-swapped 912 project up that infinitely high mountain? And we're going to make it even easier on you by giving you a shot at a 912 with an engine using the same boxer-six configuration as the Porsche powerplant that fit just fine in the 911. That's right, we've got a 1966 Porsche 912 with a turbocharged Chevy Corvair engine (go here if the ad disappears) for you, and the price is only four grand! You'll have to spend some time fixing the rust "underneath," then get to work on making the engine run again. And no worries about getting a Powerglide, because this car comes with what must be the Porsche 5-speed and perhaps an adapter plate from JC Whitney.

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<![CDATA[PCH, Factory Supercharger Edition: Kaiser Manhattan or VW Corrado G60?]]> It would appear that sheer number of doors trumps all other factors when it comes time to pick an airport limo for your next punitive project car, as evidenced by the results of yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. And I've got to admit that I almost didn't include the Hexador Suburban... because I was calculating how hard it would be to go up to Boise and get it for myself (still bummed that I didn't buy the 20R-powered Sprite in the first PCH). And today we have another car that presented such a dilemma... but then I came to my senses and remembered that I'm holding out for a Warsaw Pact hot rod project: Zaporozhets with Tatra drivetrain.


The steel company that became a shipbuilding company that became a healthcare company also built cars for a while during the car-hungry era right after World War II. Some of their cars came with McCullough superchargers installed, which was sort of like putting a nuclear reactor in a Liberty ship (here's an interesting article about the blown Kaisers, by the way). And, well, when I saw this 1954 Kaiser Manhattan (go here if the ad disappears) with factory supercharger for a mere $3,000, I almost drove straight to Fresno to get it... until the Commie virus that's taken over my brain steered me back to the idea of getting a Tatra 503-powered ZAZ, that is. But: a supercharged '54 Kaiser! And just look at that thing- why, the right side and front look pretty good, and it appears to have a front seat, so it's 14% of the way there to being a nice running, driving machine! Not only that, you get "a few boxes of extra parts," which may or may not have some association with the car. Just imagine driving this Kaiser with way, way more boost than ol' Henry ever intended for that engine and that garish two-tone paint job restored to its former glory!

Thing is, who drives 1954 cars these days? That's right, really obsessive guys who hang out at car shows and cruise nights and who get a menacing look in their eyes, punctuated by scary facial tics, when you don't acknowledge that their personal machine was the Greatest Engineering Achievement of All Time. Do you want to be one of them? Sure, not all drivers of 50+-year-old hardware are like that, but you'd be on the safe side by going with a more modern factory-supercharged car. For example, you could get this 1990 Volkswagen Corrado G60 (go here if the ad disappears) for the amazingly low price of $2,500. Yes, a blown front-drive European car- if you Taurus SHO guys think you know torque steer, just try driving one of these after the boost has been jacked up a few extra notches... and that's what you'll want to do when you get this Corrado. Of course, you'd have to fix all the stuff that doesn't work first; the seller doesn't list them, because he or she doesn't have to! You know the electrical system is dodgy, and the aftermarket mods paint a vivid picture of this car's recent history: the seller's mouth frozen in mid-"Oooohhh shiiiit!" as the tach needle hovers a grand over redline and the mall-parking-lot light pole emerges from the tire smoke and heads straight for the front left fender... the seller's friends capturing the action on their cellphone cameras. Yes, that's the picture, and that means every component that ever dealt with engine torque, from axles to main bearings, is hovering on the edge of failure. But who cares? Imagine driving this Corrado after you've exorcised the demons and fixed all the broken stuff- it'll be off the scale of the Fun-O-Meter!

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