Photo: Dragtimes.com
If you remember the Lexus SC430, it's probably for one of two reasons. Either your dear-old Grandma had one and maybe even handed it down to you when she got too old to drive. Or, on the other hand, you remember it for being the only car Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James may universally agreed was the worst car on sale at the time. But hey, a bad car is only so until someone rips its guts out and swaps in a 2J. Thanks to the DRAG International team of South Florida, we know what that looks like.
It may have come as a shock when the SC430 was named the unlucky winner of Top Gear's Worst Car in the History of the World episode back in 2013. Even certified stinkers like late-70s American land barges and the monumental disappointment that was the Ferrari F50 couldn't stack up to a mushy dog's breakfast of a sports car that was made "by a company that should've known better," in reference to Lexus' puppet masters at Toyota, as Jeremy Clarkson pointed out. There's so much to dislike about the SC430. For what was marketed as a sports car, its beached whale of an engine and slush-box automatic transmission made for less-than-stellar results.
But DRAG International isn't your average tuning company. Their unique expertise with imported JDM vehicles and drivetrains, the 2J included, makes them supremely qualified to take an absolute meal of a sports coupe and make things exciting like they should've been in the first place. Gone is the "meh" 4.3-liter 3UZ-FE V8 engine that came with the SC430. Granted, the same engine went on to have a fruitful racing career via Lexus' entry of the SC 430 into the Japanese Super GT series.
But we don't care how many aces this UZ engine has won. It'll never, ever be as capable of a performance platform as a 2JZ-GTE straight-six, ripped out of a JDM tuned up to its eyeballs by a team that knows what they're doing. With twin-turbo supported by a GReady intercooler and a Toyota A341E four-speed automatic transmission to play with, this potential drift missile doesn't even need a clutch to be the absolute best at shredding tires. But with the stock wheels that came with this SC430 still present, no living soul would notice anything amiss about this drop-top unless you popped the hood and let their jaws hit the floor.
There's something to be said about a custom car that doesn't bother to stick out from the crowd like you'd expect. Considering this SC430 will be 25 years old soon, it might be accurate to call it a restomod with confidence sooner than you think. But do you think the SC430 is a joke like Top Gear? Or do you think they're full of ten lbs bovine you-know-what in a nine-lb bag on this one? Let us know in the comments down below.
But DRAG International isn't your average tuning company. Their unique expertise with imported JDM vehicles and drivetrains, the 2J included, makes them supremely qualified to take an absolute meal of a sports coupe and make things exciting like they should've been in the first place. Gone is the "meh" 4.3-liter 3UZ-FE V8 engine that came with the SC430. Granted, the same engine went on to have a fruitful racing career via Lexus' entry of the SC 430 into the Japanese Super GT series.
But we don't care how many aces this UZ engine has won. It'll never, ever be as capable of a performance platform as a 2JZ-GTE straight-six, ripped out of a JDM tuned up to its eyeballs by a team that knows what they're doing. With twin-turbo supported by a GReady intercooler and a Toyota A341E four-speed automatic transmission to play with, this potential drift missile doesn't even need a clutch to be the absolute best at shredding tires. But with the stock wheels that came with this SC430 still present, no living soul would notice anything amiss about this drop-top unless you popped the hood and let their jaws hit the floor.
There's something to be said about a custom car that doesn't bother to stick out from the crowd like you'd expect. Considering this SC430 will be 25 years old soon, it might be accurate to call it a restomod with confidence sooner than you think. But do you think the SC430 is a joke like Top Gear? Or do you think they're full of ten lbs bovine you-know-what in a nine-lb bag on this one? Let us know in the comments down below.
Google News