We don’t think much of the Lada Riva these days, but many people out there hold this economy car in high regard; Bulgarian tuner GB Design even offers hand-crafted restomods of the damn thing. However, some people go the extra mile by cutting the firewall to shoehorn a 2JZ-GTE from a fourth-generation Toyota Supra in the engine bay.
Steve, the owner of this VAZ-2107 that looks absolutely gorgeous on Enkei wheels, has taken his Fiat 124 copycat to 565 horsepower. Torque peaks at more than 500 pound-feet (678 Nm) at 22 pounds per square inch, which doesn’t sound like much at first glance. Be warned, however, that it’s a lot of tire-torturing oomph for a curb weight of 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms).
Forced induction comes courtesy of a Garrett turbocharger, and the powerplant’s resources are channeled by a Nissan 350Z-sourced manual transmission to an 8.8-inch rear axle from a Mustang by a custom-built driveshaft. This one-of-a-kind build further boasts hidden wiring to keep the engine bay as clean as possible, custom piping, a carbon-fiber roof with a scoop that lets fresh air enter the A/C-less cabin, and a very beefy roll cage.
Even though it’s a street-legal car, Steve decided to gift his Lada with a fire suppression system if the 2JZ-GTE with VVT-i decides to combust into a scorching blaze. The Russian sedan was also treated to OMP racing seats, a detachable steering wheel, push-button start, E85 ethanol fuel blend, a motorsport-spec Bosch 044 external fuel pump, and a 10-gallon fuel cell.
A badass machine throughout, Steve’s pride and joy also happens to feature bolt-on flares to accommodate wider tires. Given the amount of torque the engine develops, there’s no denying you need as much grip and traction as possible to keep the car pointing in the right direction.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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