This car is definitely not for Porsche purists , who want to match the serial numbers of all the bolts that hold the car together. It’s a 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (996 generation) that has had its trademark 3.4-liter boxer-six engine ripped out, and replaced with a GM LS1 V8 .
This is not a new idea, and proof of this is the common Renegade Hybrids kit it uses that contains engine mounts and other necessary bits to make the swap operation more straightforward.
It’s up on Craigslist , going for $25,000 in San Diego, California, and the seller says the main incentive for going to all the trouble of putting a new engine in it was reliability. The original six-pot the car came with, model M96, is apparently prone to suffering any number of failures, the most common of which is the intermediate shaft (bearing) failure, while the LS1 motor, which runs an LS6 oil pump, an LS3 water pump and LS2 timing chain, will have far fewer such worries and cheaper fixes.
According to the seller, there’s no bad news associated with it as it’s lighter (we can't vouch for that claim) and is said to make around 100 lb-ft / 135 Nm and 50 hp more than stock. Two notable downsides mentioned are the loss of the air-con and power steering.
Exterior modifications give this car a unique feel, in particular the wider body panels from the period Turbo, the lower stance and more pronounced camber (courtesy of a K-sport coilover kit) finished off by tasteful factory Turbo wheels. The owner rates the overall state as an eight out of ten “for its age,” so it may possibly need some minor jobs done,
Whatever you think of this swap job, there’s no denying it’s a conversation starter , and if you explain the reasoning behind it, chances are that even those who might have opposed it at first will sway your way.
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: Jalopnik
