Actually, why not just do that to his car? He’s waking up in the morning after a good night’s sleep, grabbing his keys, and heading out the door only to find his Buick an inch off the ground, his tires stretched over the gaudiest rims they had at the junkyard, his wheels tilted at a 45 degree negative camber. Now he…

Or a 1UZ:

A car with a manual transmission and a broken MAF in limp-home mode, which you’ve been unable to diagnose because your car just happens to be the model year before they introduced OBD, with the end result being your engine RPM drops to half of idle and comes within an inch of stalling every other time you let the…

Less attractive than the Malibu? Ouch. I honestly think it looks great, but I’ve always been one for more reserved styling. They did do a poor job of marketing it, but with it being a low-volume contractual obligation and all I wouldn’t expect any different.

A quick search on goo-net shows these cars going for around $5000, give or take a grand or two. Here’s one with only 41000 km and a 5-speed manual for only $5,450:

The later 780 models actually seem to be pretty great cars for what they were, once they’d ditched the notorious PRV V6 for the incredibly tune-able and dead reliable B230FT redblock (and later, the B204GT with the desirable Porsche-designed 16v head).

Maybe, but it does make it one of the best options for anyone looking for a vehicle that can pull a trailer a few times a year but would rather daily drive a sedan than a big truck or SUV.

Still available with a manual transmission in Canada!

From what I’ve read on multiple places, the 1UZ is about 30lbs lighter than the all-alloy LS1. I have no idea how accurate this chart is, but it puts a 1UZ with a W58 5-speed at 466lbs and an LS1 with a manual (guessing T56) at 503lbs. The LS1 is also 5.7 litres vs the 1UZ’s 4.0, so it’s not too hard to believe.

After a bit more searching I’ve discovered that the 1UZ actually varies in oil sump location from car to car, and that people have been able to do modification-free swaps with the SC400 variant in other cars (see the Supra MkIII 1UZ ‘Basic Obsticles’ thread here: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthre…

Sadly, no. I’m aware of the aussie guys that pulled it off (the Lolvo 245), as well as a Russian with a 240 sedan that you can find on Youtube, but haven’t been able to find much on documentation. Both of those swaps used the 1UZ’s stock automatic trans, sadly, but there is extensive documentation of W58 swaps with…

You’d be amazed at the swaps people pull off with RWD Volvos. 2JZ, Nissan RB engines, BMW V10, Viper V10, Ford 5.0, Chevy LSx, even the Toyota/Lexus 1UZ-FE DOHC V8 from the LS400/SC400/GS400, which is even wider than the LS (but lighter because all-aluminum). The 1UZ is my personal favorite because it’s consistent…

Isn’t it weird how pretty much all cars with “240” in their names are popular with enthusiasts? V0lv0 240, Datsun 240z, Mercedes 240d, Nissan 240sx...

I remember Jeremy Clarkson once describing it as looking like “if a Fiat 124 and E-Type coupe had a baby, but with Japanese reliability” (or something to that effect). Whatever inspired it, its design has held up amazingly well.

Neutral: I already posted this in another thread, but here’s my thought:

You could design a series of tests intended to mimic real-world driving conditions and randomly assign them to groups of test drivers (maybe all EPA employees would be required to participate if randomly selected, as part of the job?). The data from the tests and testers would then be statistically analyzed (outliers…

Ehh....?

Not really. All the manufacturers were up in arms about California’s stringent emissions standards in the 70’s, saying they were absurd and impossible to meet, when all of a sudden Volvo just walked in with the Lambda-Sond system, using mechanical fuel injection and an O2 sensor in a feedback loop to keep the air-fuel…

“Oh, hey. Looks like every manufacturer is cheating on the tests we federally mandate to make sure our air is breathable without serious health risks. Guess we’d better loosen up those regulations!”

What was it supposed to look like, then? Does every modern American performance car have to look as aggressive and in-your-face as a Camaro?