33 of the Most Interesting Engine Swaps We've Ever Seen

Unfortunately, the V-12 engine from a Ferrari 400i does not bolt right into a 308. One ambitious owner learned that the hard way, but instead of giving up, they decided to put in an immense amount of metal fabrication work to get it to fit. The result is one of the coolest Ferraris we've ever seen.

We recently spoke with Daniel Werner, builder of this wacky Crown Vic in the process of receiving a 27-liter Meteor engine from a World War II-era tank. It's as wonderfully ridiculous as you'd think.

Ferraris all have pretty fantastic engines from the factory, so it's not often you hear of them getting swapped out for something else. Still, we have to respect it—seeing an IndyCar V-8 go into anything resembling a road car is exciting.

The Honda Beat comes from the factory with a high-revving engine with individual throttle bodies. It's fun enough for most people, but not for the owner of this Beat, who contracted AWR Racing to mount a near-200-horsepower Hayabusa motor into the car.

This might make Porsche purists angry, but we're extremely into it. This 911 Turbo, built by Speed Density Motorsports in Tennessee, makes 1200 horsepower thanks to a 3.2-liter turbocharged VR6 with forged internals in place of the stock flat-six.

From the factory, the Toyota MR2 came with a transversely-mounted inline-four. That didn't suit the builder of this car, who replaced it with a longitudinally-mounted inline-five from Audi. It now makes over 700 horsepower, and sounds like a WRC car on steroids.

Fun V-8 engine swaps aren't just restricted to rear-wheel drive sports cars. Look to this LS-swapped Pontiac Montana for proof. It had its original powerplant swapped out for an LS4 V-8, which was designed by GM for front-wheel drive applications. We even talked to the owner to see how he pulled it off.

No matter your thoughts on whether a Subaru flat-four would be better-suited to power the Miata over the original engine, you have to admit, this is a pretty interesting swap. A company out of Ohio actually makes a kit for the conversion, with the goal being to lower the Miata's already-low center of gravity.

The folks at Driftworks in the UK decided it would be a good idea to drop an LT4 crate motor (the same supercharged V-8 found in the C7-generation Corvette Z06) into an E92 M3. Purists might not like it, but we approve.

Like the E92 M3 before, this E46-generation M3 has been treated to a Chevy engine swap. This one is an LS7, a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V-8 found in the C6-generation Corvette Z06 and Camaro Z/28. It sounds as wonderful as you'd expect.

If you're disappointed with the fact Ford decided not to put a V-8 in its latest Raptor, you're not the only one. Hennessey Performance currently offers a conversion that swaps out that Ecoboost twin-turbo V-6 for a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 making over 750 horsepower.

This was bound to happen. One of the most disliked vehicles in the enthusiast world, made awesome with the help of a Hellcat crate engine modified to make 1000 horsepower. Here it is decimating a Demon on the drag strip.

This 1981 911 Targa looks pretty much stock from the outside save for a rear seat delete, but underneath, it's a totally different story. Occupying nearly all the space behind the driver is a massive V-8 taken from a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado. It must be a hoot to drive.

We first spotted this interesting S2000-engined Tacoma for sale on Craigslist, and eventually talked to the builder, who told us all about it. It's pretty unassuming save for those wheels, and looks like a seriously good time.

This Charger, featured on Jay Leno's Garage, is powered by a monstrous twin-turbo V-8 built by Mercury Marine Racing—yep, a racing boat engine. As you'd expect, the burnouts are a sight to behold.

This Supra, originally built by legendary shop Top Secret, packs a 930-horsepower twin-turbo V-12 sourced from a Toyota Century under the hood. Top speed was clocked at a truly bonkers 222 mph.

We're surprised the folks at Oemmedi Meccanica were able to fit a Lamborghini V-12 into a Fiat 500, much less get it to drive properly. Of course, to get everything functioning, the body grew significantly, and there's hardly any Fiat left.

Though it looks like a mostly-normal VW Bus on the outside, this track monster is packing the drivetrain from a 993-generation Porsche 911 Turbo underneath.

This Elise hillclimb car houses a V-8 built by fusing two Hayabusa motorcycle four-cylinder engines together. As you can imagine, it sounds amazing. Also, it's incredibly fast.

Not getting enough excitement from your Phantom's quiet, 6.75-liter V-12? Well, you're not alone. The owner of this Phantom had its original engine replaced with a hugely powerful, ultra-stout 2JZ straight-six from the Toyota Supra. It's about as baller as a car can get.

Drifter Ryan Tureck fit the wild V-8 from a Ferrari 458 into a Toyota 86, which might be one of the most complicated engine swaps ever attempted. As you can imagine, it looks seriously cool in action.

We've seen 911s with V-8 engine swaps in the past, but none as sacrilegious as this. This LS3-swapped 997-generation GT3 popped up on Craigslist awhile back, and it's exactly as bothersome to purists as it sounds. Sure, that flat-six wail is gone, but who are we to say no to 525 horsepower?

The E39 M5 is famous for its fantastic-sounding, torquey 4.9-liter S62 V-8 engine. But what happens when it blows up? Drop in an 800-horsepower Supra engine, of course. The result is a super sedan with seemingly unlimited shove and a whole lot of turbo noises.

As you know, the Mazda Miata is the World's Most Perfect Car, but you can make one even perfecter with a K24 four-cylinder from a Honda under the hood. This one makes 250 horsepower and revs all the way to 8200 rpm. Amazing.

We love oddball engine swaps, and a Jeep Wrangler powered by the 4.0-liter V-8 from a Lexus LS400 certainly qualifies as such. Also, it sounds like an angry NASCAR stocker, so there's that.

Owing to their ubiquitousness, people have stuffed pretty much every engine imaginable into Beetles over the years. But this 13B-rotary powered Beetle might be the coolest. This one makes at least 250 horsepower and runs the quarter mile in the 10s.

This engine-swapped Toyota Corona Wagon keeps things in the family, but it's still a wild car. Its engine comes from a JDM Toyota Supra, makes 400 horsepower, and revs to 8000 rpm. When we drove it, we barely survived to tell the story.

This amazing build is the definition of a sleeper. Both inside and out, this looks like a stock E46 M3, but under the hood lives the 5.0-liter V-10 from the E60-generation BMW M5. It's perhaps the ultimate BMW engine swap.

Hellcat swaps are as inevitable as Hellcat crashes, but finding Mopar's mighty supercharged V-8 in a Wrangler was a surprise. Amazingly, the Wrangler Hellcat is four-wheel drive, but it'll cost you around $130,000.

There's the normal way of making Porsche purists angry, then there's this way. Instead of dropping in an LS block, one owner thought it would be fun to put a turbocharged K-series Honda engine into his classic 911. Check it out here.

Why put a diesel engine in a Camaro? 896 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels is why. No further explanation necessary.

What's a Synergy V-8? Glad you asked! It's a 356-horse, 2.4-liter V-8 comprised of two Kawasaki Ninja four-cylinder motorcycle engines joined to a common crankshaft. It only makes 200 lb-ft of torque, but it redlines at 11,600 rpm. Suddenly, an LS-powered BRZ seems so boring.

This doesn't really require much explanation. What the goons at Flyin' Miata have done here is combine the amazing chassis of the current-generation Mazda Miata with a 525-horse small block V-8. It's perfect.