We’ve featured our share of crazy engine swaps here at PD, in Australia, New Zealand and plenty in the good ol’ US of A, like today’s Cool Find.
A Subaru Liberty wagon is not the first candidate you’d think of for a Chevrolet LS V8 swap, but the hashtag #LStheworld exists because there are plenty of folk out there who think a small block Chevy is the best engine you could put into anything.
Understandable considering the aftermarket support and how you can cheaply extract big horsepower from the pushrod, all-alloy donk.
Known as the Legacy in the States and abroad, the humble green wagon has been treated to a 6.0L LS2 transplant from a Pontiac GTO, aka our Holden Monaro, including the T-56 manual transmission. It is good for 300kW of power and 540Nm of torque.
All-wheel drive and LS2? Like a Holden Adventra LX8 in a smaller body? You’d think but not so. This one has been converted to rear-wheel drive with a Subaru STI R180 limited-slip diff at the back. Considering the engine bay was designed to accommodate a boxer engine and AWD hardware underneath, it is probably a stretch too far to think it was possible to retain AWD.
Other upgrades include Wilwood six-piston front and four-piston rear brakes and air suspension. The car is listed for US$16,800 (about AU$22k) and is a true sleeper. Head over to engineswapdepot.com for more info.
