Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
Imagine this little guy with a stock appearing front end... maybe even some stock VW wheel covers and lowered a bit more... Please view all photos at the Hemmings link:
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/volkswagen/super-beetle/1734595.html?refer=news
I am really liking this guys creativity.
Here is another wild one using an Eldo Drivetrain in the rear...
About 15 years ago the owner was selling this car out of New York and the occompaning video showed it doing wheelstands in a dirt lot and it would hardly steer and stop as the front end was all STOCK! Kinda gives this X1/9 a Ferrari Testarossa look. I also love the easy-to-fill bottles mounted conveniently to the RR backlight.
(BTW, Summit Racing stocks these headers for just this kind of conversion...)
Note also how the engine in both of these cars is shifted to the right a bit... as they use a SPLIT Turbo-Hydramatic 3 speed trans. The Olds in the bug above shows it well where the torque converter is in its normal position and then the trans sits BACKWARDS under and on the left side of the block. Its connected to the converter with a fiberglass laced, 4 inch wide rubber belt.
Again, 15 years ago or more... Wayne Wright mounted the same trans and a Chevy V-6 in the back of his X1/9. He too kept the front end stock but this was a totally different ride and much more balanced.
I hassled him for years saying "He coulda had a V8!" He sold it a few years back and I believe Mike Middelstead cares for it now.
Hope you enjoyed this little escape. I sent a copy of the bug over to my neighbor James who was vacillating over what kind of car he should get for "work" considering his new high corporate position, the desire for something "sporty" and possible holding his family of six.
He ended up with a Bimmer and still has an Escalade to haul around the troops. I said that this car has the "look" of a Mercedes, the "speed" of a Ferrari, and the visual appeal of an "go-green-economy" car as in a VW.
HA!
Dad/Papa/Tony
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/volkswagen/super-beetle/1734595.html?refer=news
I am really liking this guys creativity.
Here is another wild one using an Eldo Drivetrain in the rear...
About 15 years ago the owner was selling this car out of New York and the occompaning video showed it doing wheelstands in a dirt lot and it would hardly steer and stop as the front end was all STOCK! Kinda gives this X1/9 a Ferrari Testarossa look. I also love the easy-to-fill bottles mounted conveniently to the RR backlight.
(BTW, Summit Racing stocks these headers for just this kind of conversion...)
Note also how the engine in both of these cars is shifted to the right a bit... as they use a SPLIT Turbo-Hydramatic 3 speed trans. The Olds in the bug above shows it well where the torque converter is in its normal position and then the trans sits BACKWARDS under and on the left side of the block. Its connected to the converter with a fiberglass laced, 4 inch wide rubber belt.
Again, 15 years ago or more... Wayne Wright mounted the same trans and a Chevy V-6 in the back of his X1/9. He too kept the front end stock but this was a totally different ride and much more balanced.
I hassled him for years saying "He coulda had a V8!" He sold it a few years back and I believe Mike Middelstead cares for it now.
Hope you enjoyed this little escape. I sent a copy of the bug over to my neighbor James who was vacillating over what kind of car he should get for "work" considering his new high corporate position, the desire for something "sporty" and possible holding his family of six.
He ended up with a Bimmer and still has an Escalade to haul around the troops. I said that this car has the "look" of a Mercedes, the "speed" of a Ferrari, and the visual appeal of an "go-green-economy" car as in a VW.
HA!
Dad/Papa/Tony