After several months of anxiously waiting, my new "beast" is finally finished. A special "THANKS" to Stephen Kaspar at ImagineAuto for building the car. Stephen is a true perfectionist and made sure every step of the process was exactly what I wanted -- he basically built a new car from the ground up.

My car is an 1987 Turbo-look Cabriolet (NA). Or should I say, "was".

We transplanted a 91 C2T motor that was bored to 3.4L and twinplugged. Added fuel enrichment and some other "stuff" that I don't even understand. Running at 1.0 bar. Stephen thinks she should actually be putting out about 470HP.

We also upgraded the suspension all the way around with full coilovers and upgraded the brakes to Big Reds. Upgraded the clutch and a ton of other stuff. But that's just the mechanical stuff.

The car got a completely new "look". I figured, what the heck, if I'm going to build a supercar I might as well make the car look unique also. We converted the entire body to a Gemballa style 993 body. Added 993 teardrop mirrors, 993 door handles, a silver crest, a 3.6 RSR style rear wing with brake light, and several other goodies. Also added 18" Gemballa wheels. Some nice 295s on the back.

I flew to Kansas where ImagineAuto is and drove the car back to Orlando where I live. What a great drive home. This car is so awesome. I went from the 911 N/A "crowd" to join the 911 Turbo group in one big booooost. And WOW am I glad I did. The car is so fun to drive. So quick. So fast. I can't even put it into words what it's like to drop the hammer and boost past people in an instant.

The car is very light now with everything but the doors and hood having been replaced with fiberglass. She really scoots. I can't wait to put some higher octane fuel in her and she how fun she can get.

Here are a couple of photos. You can see a complete indepth photo "history" of the entire project at my site at <a href="http://www.why55.com/photos.html" target="_blank">http://www.why55.com/photos.html</a>

I have many more "progress" photos from the project that I still need to add to the site.

If you live in the Orlando area and would like to go for a "spin", send me an email at john@why55.com and I'll be happy to take you for a ride.

Let me know what you think!

 

Others...

 

Very Nice - really attractive combination.

I would suggest you get a rollbar ASAP - couple of reasons: (1) you have a lot of torque in those rear wheels and it wouldn't take much to get in trouble fast, (2) that kind of hp belongs on a track where you can learn to use it, but w/o a rollbar you won't be admitted.

Have fun and be safe! Happy 2003

 

Nice car and I like the "skull and cross bones" on the rear plate.

Jim

 

Great looking car especially the intercooler. Very neat. Happy running it in.

 

Looks great!!!

 

Are those headlights from Gemballa?

Lovely car, but a roolbar would probably be a wise idea..

 

Man, that front end is one of the nicest aftermarket looks I've ever seen. I've always loved the slant-nose from the front but from the side it turns me off. Seems the fenders losing that height does it. Your fenders have some thickness above the wheel, that makes it just right.
As nice as it looks I'm guessing the motor is the best part by a loooong way. Awesome car, John.
<img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Where did you get you front body panels, headlights, and what not?

 

Man, that is really nice. I love the look of a slantnose from the front but from the side they disappoint me. The profile is just way to thin and upsets the profile of the car, imo. You have that wicked front end but still have some thickness above the wheel to keep a nice overall proportion and profile.
But as nice as it looks, I'm guessing the motor is still the best reason to own it.

Where did you get your body panels, headlights, and whatever else?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Tony:
<strong>
Where did you get your body panels, headlights, and whatever else?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Hi Tony,

The body panels came from <a href="http://www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com" target="_blank">www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com</a>

 

Very attractive ride!! Is it forbidden to ask what the conversion cost?
From one Cab Turbo to another, and like the others have said, "keep the shiny side up" or your pleasure will be short lived and your heirs will be liquidating the mangled mess...
Prost
Randy

 

I have a '89 Speedster with a 930 engine. The thing is so gorgeous, I can't bear to put a roll bar in. I guess I'll just have to duck if things get out of hand!

 

That sure is a nice looking car, and some big power to go with it.

Curious George

 

beautiful car have a 83sc cab that i dropped a worked turbo motor in and same wing and rims but no body kit. i am about 50,000 deep just curious how deep are you into the car.