Mercedes R107 SL, ‘74-’89. When the R107 debuted in ‘72, it was a 172" long vehicle, even in the US. In 1974, when US bumper regulations were implemented, the length of the car jumped to 182". That’s a huge jump outright - 10"! - but especially proportionally, with no other change present but larger bumpers. Sure,…

Michigan Left.

That’s exactly what I had in mind when I saw it!  Going through a little spat with the voluntary HOA in my neighborhood, apparently I’m in violation of some little-enforced city ordinance, but, I figure it’s nothing a few hideous, gaudy, shiny, awesome vehicles can’t take care of!  

Hey, thanks for making a post about it!  Now I’m on the hunt for a Dekotora truck on the cheap.  Although, if I had just a little bit less sense, I’d probably be trying to buy this one.  

As someone who grew up in A-bodies, had an A-body as a first car, and now has an A-body racecar, this is an easy NP. Wagons with the Iron Duke are pretty rare. An engine swap to make these decently quick is not particularly difficult or expensive.

Indeed! Apparently, there is a bit of Volvo-specific stuff in their 4T65E (likely electronics and bolt pattern), but, the mechanical components of the AWD system might be beefier, considering they had to stand up to a TT I6 - at least until the warranty was up.

Are they not required to have a safety latch?  On 911s, when you open the frunk, you still have to slide your hand under the hood and flip the safety latch over.  

Oh my, did not know that.  Will keep in mind for future reference!  

These are Extremely easy to tune - 300hp is just a few bolt-ons and a tune away. With decent tires and that power, they’ll easily keep up with (and usually beat) pretty much any FWD car out there, and quite a few RWD/AWD.  Sure, ‘off the showroom floor’, they aren’t quite a match for newer cars with better traction,…

Any word if the same fixes will be (or will need to be) applied to the Mitsubishi Outlander?  I have a friend who is weirdly interested in one of those - but, not with a 2* rating in any safety metric.  

Okay, that’s weird, because I really want a Cimarron with a 3900/LZ9 swap, just for the mix of pseudo old-school-cool and ‘WFT?!?’.  So, obviously, I approve of your fantasy, lol.  

Oh, it surely was not a great system. But, there was a thought to put one in a RallyX car, if there was something that could be done to make it transfer power to the rear constantly. Seems that, if possible, that would wear it out even faster than it would wear itself out, though,

Yep! For every Northstar with blowed head gaskets, someone who doesn’t understand how to change the starter, or just general Cadillac electrical problems, there’s a gem of a ridiculously heavy-duty transmission sitting right beside it just waiting to go into a high-power FWD car. It’s becoming somewhat popular in…

This is weirdly timely, as I’ve spent a bit too much of my time this week figuring out if it’s possible to put GMs crappy VersaTrak system into other GM vehicles that came with 4T65E transmission.

That looks like a MUCH more useful setup than my current fridge - no forgetting stuff at the back for months (years?) at a time.  Why the hell did we move away from this?  

Now we’re talkin’!  Don’t forget a little love for the 4T65E though - it struggles with the basic 240hp/280tq.  If you’re going really serious on power, the smart move is to just ditch it from the start and shoehorn in a 4T80E.  

Indeed it is!  I’m sure there are some differences in chassis tuning, but yes, the GP and Regal are very similar - with the exception that the 3100 equivalent at Buick was called a Century (after ‘96, at least).  Later, the Monte Carlo and Impala got in on the L67 W-body train for I believe ‘04 & ‘05 in SS trim.  

The only problem would be, usually, on a vacation, you need extra space to take crap with you. However, on something with a decent tow rating, an additional battery backpack could be really great for the times you’d need to tow something over a long distance. Rentable would be really nice, but, not sure if there would…

It does seem like it!

Dude. An engine that’s constantly cycling between on and off would be extremely annoying in a Rolls Royce V12, much less a crappy I4 Nissan. Seems like that would wear out the absorber (?), constantly going from nothing to full power (and it probably starts the engine too). And for how much increase, really? A Passat…