As someone that always looks into the future, deciding project cars is an emotional and important choice. I’ve deliberated back and forth and hadn’t really made any solid decisions; until last night.
As I drove along I76 last night in Pennsylvania I’d seen a very rare sight; a 1980s Maserati Quattroporte. This exact sighting reminded me of how much I miss my Maserati Biturbo. My Biturbo meant the world to me and I miss it daily. Here’s the story if you haven’t read it.
In lieu of this, I’ve decided it’s time to get another. This time, I’ll specifically seek out an automatic coupe from the west coast, hopefully without an engine. That’s because my Biturbo won’t be a twin turbo V6.
Nope. It’ll be a 5.3 LS V8 and I won’t budge on that. I’ve never done the LS swap thing before but it’s time. I plan to use a 6l80 transmission which should fit in the stock tunnel; also the LS is far more compact than the TT V6.
These cars weigh around 2500 so with an LS it should probably weigh even less. Living up to the name of the car, the LS will be turbo but only a single. I intend to make everything work as OEM down to working air conditioning and the full OEM interior. I want a comfortable cruiser.
The Biturbo always drove phenomenal and was comfortable on trips, the LS reliability and power ceiling makes this a common sense solution. I intend to have the first drag focused Maserati. The rear suspension is even mostly identical to the E30 and there’s swaps available for E30 cars to run solid axle four link. Yes that will be happening.
Stay tuned. I’m hunting the right shell currently.