Bill Sadler gained fame with his V-8-powered sports racing cars in the 60's and went on to greater recognition as an ultralight aircraft designer. No big eights in those babies! When I first met Bill he'd shoehorned a flathead Ford V8 into a Morris Minor. Not being the "purist" I am today and surrounded by all sorts of modified small sedans, including my own racing Beetle, I thought this was a neat trick. Now, however, I prefer to see such cars restored rather than modified but recalling how much I admired Mr. Sadler's accomplishments, I can be tolerant of this cleverly outrageous modification, spotted in "Autoblog".
Remy and Jeremy Vos have taken a Mini and turned it into a pickup powered by, you guessed it, a V-8. Gone, however, is the Mini's front-wheel-drive east-west engine layout, which obviously would have been impossible. These talented gentlemen instead chose to build a frame supporting the GM small-block and rear suspension. The BMW parts pin was raided for braking components, the rear axle, the steering column, and a new MINI donated a power steering pump. As the article suggests, "it's totally impractical, but we gather practicality wasn't the goal here." I agree the result's impressive and considering the Mini was the Morris Minor's replacement, Bill Sadler would probably approve.
I remember seeing in one of the mags a long time ago a “sleeper” VW with a small block Chevy in the back seat. The thing I remember is the engine cover was molded to look like a bunch of luggage in the back seat. Ferg
May 18, 2007 @ 6:38 am