Porsche fans are notorious purists when it comes to the all-sacred 911; just look what happened when Porsche decided to–shock, horror–install a radiator in the 996-chassis 911. Due to their persnickety nature, they're especially fun to troll, and I can think of no better troll than a 911 with an LS1 V8 from a Corvette mounted where a flat-six usually lives. If you want to be the bane of your local Porsche Club of America meeting, buy this one.
This 1986 example is up for auction, unsurprisingly, at Bring a Trailer where bidding is just under $17,000 at the time of writing. The build apparently cost $50,000 and involved visually turning the car into a 911 RSR recreation in addition to the engine swap.
The LS1 sends 390 horsepower to the rear wheels via the stock 915 transaxle, though both the gearbox and limited slip have been rebuilt. Only 2000 miles have been put on the car since the build was completed six months ago, but it's said to be well dialed in. Apparently, the LS1 is lighter than the 911's stock 3.2-liter flat six, though the car ended up being 12 pounds heavier due to other new hardware. Still, a small penalty for a monstrous power gain, considering the U.S.-spec 1986 911 made only 217 horsepower.
The seller added bigger wheels and tires, upgraded brakes, and Koni coilover suspension to handle the huge increase in power. A thread over at the Pelican Parts forum details the whole build if you're interested in learning more about the car.
Maybe you want a stock 911 of this vintage, and that's totally ok–they're as great to drive as the hype suggests, and they're actually still affordable(ish). But, if you want something utterly ridiculous, absurdly fast, and guaranteed to piss off Porsche snobs, this car will be ideal.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins served as Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist.
