Most street builds tuck the drivetrain away behind bodywork, but this one does the opposite: an open-wheel tube chassis with the turbo engine sitting exposed at the rear and nothing hiding the mechanicals. Compared with the usual kit car route, going with a beam front end straight from the old VW playbook feels refreshingly old school, and it clearly works for a rail this light.
The powertrain pairing is what grabs me. A 2.3L turbo out of an 88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe bolted to a VW Bus transaxle is a neat mix of boost and simple gearing. The front suspension follows the original beam design with a spring pack inside the beam, and the shock mounts are single shear, only there to slow the travel of the arms while the springs carry the load. Fifty pounds of leadshot hangs off the nose because the front end is very light. Up top, an intercooler sits high in the rear cage, coilover springs show at the back, and the console carries an analog gauge, an emergency-stop button, toggles and a lever.
The details that stand out are the repro Type 2 CV joints and the deep-dish black wheels wearing wide, low-profile rubber. One CV let go during a filmed drive, the second this summer, and the maker points to torque, sticky tires and possibly over articulation. The fix is apparently easy, with three spares on the shelf, and a step up to 930 joints is on the table. Whether over articulation played a part is still unresolved, and the microphone placement is still being experimented with, which shows up as pops and wind noise in the audio.
Project by di11ard. Watch it on their YouTube channel: