McLaren F1 Engine-Swapped 930 Is What Dreams Are Made Of
Fire-spitting 911 art car roars to 9,000 RPM with a turbo V6 McLaren F1 engine once raced by Stefan Johansson.
Sometimes there are things that come to fruition in this world that are too insane to be imaginary. Throughout all of the over-the-top projects that have crossed our minds, not once has putting an actual Formula One engine into a 911 even been even in our wildest fantasies. The good news, though, is that we don’t have to imagine it at all. This ferocious fire-breathing Porsche 930 911 has a turbocharged V6 McLaren F1 engine from a car formerly raced by Stefan Johansson. It has much closer ties to Johansson than just the engine, too.
Porsche collector and all-around legend Magnus Walker posted a video of this car to his YouTube channel. Frankly, this thing might just go down as one of the greatest modified 911s in history. That may seem like a lofty title. However, when you hear this monster revving to RPMs that are typically reserved for motorcycles, you might start to agree.
Johansson Raced and Johannson Owned
Stefan Johansson not only drove the car that this engine came from. He drives this one, too. It’s his personal car and he even did the custom paint work. Remarkably, this isn’t the only McLaren F1 engine swapped 930 out there. British Motorsports and Engineering company Lanzante managed to get its hands on 11 of these Hans Mezger-designed McLaren F1 car engines. They were built by Porsche with funding from TAG. Hence the “TAG turbo” license plate on the front. The Porsche construction starts to make a lot more sense of the swap. Still, it’s downright insane.
“Believe it or not, this is exactly what Porsche did back in the mid-’80s after they’d been approached by McLaren to develop the V6 F1 turbo engine. Without an F1 car to put the engine in and shake it down, Porsche simply put it in a mid-’80s 930 Turbo and hit the road,” says Walker.
McLaren F1 Power Makes A Monster
The low RPMs are met with an infectious turbo whistle before the engine starts screaming for the heavens. Certainly, it’s not a sound 911 lovers are familiar with. However, it is one that they could likely get used to.
“Dean and the team at Lanzante have managed to recreate a piece of F1 history. Actually, 11 of them, and all with a healthy dose of modernity and street ability. It will all feel very familiar to anyone that’s driven a Porsche 930 Turbo, yet totally different at the same time. As the way the engine revs and sounds is something altogether unique,” says Walker.
Unfortunately, knowing more than one just gives us an opportunity to add yet another car to our list entitled “awesome cars we’ll never afford.” Oh well, at least we can replay the video over and over.