Image via DeLoreanTECH/YouTube
The DeLorean is one of those cars that non-gearheads look at and just assume it’s fast. We guess that’s understandable considering it has a pretty sleek shape, especially for an 80s ride, and those cool gullwing doors. But they’re actually slow as snot, or a tortoise or whatever other cliché you want to use.
Check out a four-rotor, all-wheel-drive Mazda RX-7 that literally spits flames.
People have done engine swaps on DeLoreans before, but this one is the first Ferrari engine swap we’ve seen. These guys dropped a 4.3-liter V8 from Maranello into the American sports car, providing 453-horsepower and 358 lb.-ft. of torque, making the DeLorean pretty sporty for a change.
Don’t worry, a real Ferrari wasn’t harmed in the creation of this build. These guys just ripped the motor out of a 2012 Ferrari California which had been totaled in a crash. That car suffered front-end damage, but the engine thankfully survived.
These guys didn’t just drop the Ferrari V8 into the rear and call it good. This DeLorean also received new coilovers, upgraded aluminum lower control arms, custom larger factory-style wheels, larger brakes, and other mods.
But most surprising is the use of a 6-speed gearbox sourced from a Porsche 997 of all things. So you have an American car with an Italian engine and a German transmission. Crazy.
Some of you might have seen this interesting ride at the 2024 SEMA show in Las Vegas not too long ago. It’s definitely memorable since most DeLorean engine swaps involve an LS V8 or something like that. But engine swaps in these cars have been going on for some time, with the production crew for the original Back to the Future movie swapping a V8 into one of the Time Machine cars so it could actually look good speeding around in that mall parking lot.
Check out the video explaining and showing off the build, it’s cool to see and it’s brief.
Image via DeLoreanTECH/YouTube
