Some Europeans can't stand American cars. That's supposedly a rule to live and die by for some gearheads. They think American cars are slow, heavy, unsophisticated, and driven by barely literate people in cowboy hats while munching on cheeseburgers and drinking Diet Coke as if it was water.
If you subscribe to that line of thinking, well, you ought to go out and meet more people instead of knocking them for their harmless hobby. But if you are this person and want your entire worldview shattered, look no further than Joakim Johnson and his 2016 Lamborghini Huracán.
Johnson is a drift car competitor of fine Norwegeigan stock, lauded as one of the most skilled drifters in all of Scandinavia. Okay, so a Northern European dude driving a mid-western European supercar, what's so special about that? What gives? If the title of this feature didn't clue you in, it's not anything you'd typically find in a Lambo.
Gone is its iconic V10. In its place are eight cylinders, natural aspiration, and enough nitrous-marinated prime American beef to make a decent after-church barbecue. It looks downright delicious inside that Italian frame.
Photo: Joachim Johnson
Want the scoop on the engine? Of course you do. It actually originates from a 2008 Dodge/Mopar NASCAR Cup Series racer that saw legitimate track time in its day. Much of the overengineered pseudo-Italian Audi components of the drivetrain and ECU module are now replaced with several hundred cubic inches of freedom.
The engine breathes through a Holley XP 950 CFM carburetor. This is then linked to a custom stainless header setup done by Engh Fabrication, and fuel is fed through an Aviaid dry sump fuel tank.
On high octane racing fuel, this engine jets 830 horsepower all day long. But remember, Joakim Johnson takes this big manly SOB drift racing. So a 300 shot of the finest nitrous in Northern Europe works like a charm when you want to slide at a very, very wide angle.
There's a case for leaving the suspension and brake setup from the stock Huracán in this build. People regularly boost these mid-engined Italian V10 supercars to huge levels of power. We're talking like, obscene amounts here.
Photo: Joachim Johnson
Even more so than the NASCAR Cup car spec V8 under the hood of this one. What is at least known is the brakes are upgraded to drilled and slotted Wilwood alloy disks. Especially good when you mess up your drift and spin out. Good brakes can be a real lifesaver in that case.
Backing everything up is an Albins ST6-M sequential racing transaxle gearbox with custom gear ratios paired together with Xtreme Performance clutch. Kind of pairing like a B-tier pinot grigio and eggplant parmesan at an Olive Garden. In that respect, the American side of this Euro-American operation sure does spoil the culinary part of the deal, just with far more horsepower and tire smoke.
Questionable allegories about cheap American chain restaurants aside, you can't help but marvel at the level of workmanship that went into every centimeter of real estate on this one-of-a-kind machine. You'll no doubt notice that the headlights and other pieces of exterior trim are removed to save as much weight as possible.
This weight saving is spoiled a bit by the huge rear wing sticking out from the back of this beast. It's a necessary sacrifice, as this car could reach the takeoff speed of a fighter jet with a long enough runway, good thing it's designed to be driven sideways most of the time. It's all brought together with a set of 59 North Wheels D-005 alloys that complete a look as menacing as it is mesmerizing.
Photo: Joachim Johnson
We can only suspect that this beast sounds like a chimera of a NASCAR Cup car and a drift car that you never thought you'd ever see. Go check out Joakim's social media if you want to learn more.
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