You have to have a Facebook account to view this, but once you do, you just might stop badmouthing Smart cars.
Mustang driver was worthless, Car and Driver tested a stock GT500, did a 11.8 second quarter at 125 mph.
I wonder what was in the smart? Not stock, that’s for sure.
Remember the days when people would put a Chevy 350 in …anything ! Jeep, Beetle , Model T ?
Maybe they fit one in a smart ?
I forgot to mention, a stock smart did the quarter in a BLAZING 19.9s/68 mph…
Fun video, I loved the wheelie, but clearly the smart car is not off-the-lot. If a stock smart car can do a wheelie I’ll eat my shorts.
By the way, I think Smart cars are novel modern versions of the old “bubble car” of war-torn post-WWII Europe. The only problem with them is they’re way overpriced for what you get. If only they were $9000 new they’d be perfect.
The smart car is a modified version with a Toyota engine. Smart’s only really work in crowded cities. Even a Mazda2 is more useful to most of us.
Remember the days when people would put a Chevy 350 in ...anything ! Jeep, Beetle , Model T ? Maybe they fit one in a smart ?
Pepole have been known to drop a 'Busa engine (either NA or turbo) in the Smart car.
Oly, it looks like they must have pulled the whole Toyota engine and transaxle and put it under the rear half of the Smart car. Cool.
@Ken: “Remember the days when people would put a Chevy 350 in …anything ! Jeep, Beetle , Model T ?”
…or perhaps a motorcycle? http://www.bosshoss.com/default.asp
You would think a V-6 would be enough for any motorcycle. Unfortunately, they only come with V-8s.
Had a friend put a 350 in am MG! Some suspension work needed!
Guys around here would stick SB Chevys in 4wd Luv trucks(seemed to work pretty well) plus the usual gamut of small block Vegas,I think an Aluminum Olds V8 made a sweet swap for several compacts,one overlooked sleeper engine was a windsor Ford V8,one of the lightest production cast iron V8s around-Kevin
Anyone here ever seen Boss Hoss motorcycles?
Saw one where I used to work, but never running. Wanted to hear the straight pipes. Also was a guy there who had a flathead Ford V8 in a motorcycle (much nicer fit than the 350 Chev)…sounded cool.
Saw a Boss Hoss at a car show. Overdone X 10. Just not my thing, I guess.
Particularly if it’s light and cheap enough people will try to get a v8 into almost anything, the S10/Ranger V8 swap. It’s much more work but you could get most ford small blocks (with a conversion kit) into a 1st gen Ford Focus, after changing it to RWD of course.
When I was a young teenager there was a huge trike displayed at the state fair. It had a 12 cylinder Allison WW2 vintage aircraft engine which was bigger than a Smart Car and probably weighed twice as much! I had a buddy with a Chevy 283 cu. in. stuffed into an Austin Healey Sprite Mk 1 (bug eye)!
I always thought a Ford 302 in a Miata made a nice “poor man’s Shelby.”
I still wouldn’t buy one. We have a lot of Smart cars in the neighborhood. They fit in spaces no other car will fit in. With about one of those spaces per block, I can see the reason to buy one. Saves a lot of driving in circles. But it is too slow and expensive and the gas mileage is nothing special. Build a car that size that can do 0-60 in ten seconds and gets 50 MPG for $10k and I’d consider it.