Photos: BangShift

The world is a big place, and that means there are hotrodders to be found everywhere – sometimes you just need to know where to look. Our friends over at BangShift often find some pretty cool machines, and this one is no exception.

We’ve always been a fan of the early ’90’s RX-7 bodystyle; maybe because some of us started driving right around the time these cars hit the pavement from the dealership. When the RX-7 showed up on the lot back then, it was packing a Wankel…rotary engine, that is.

The rotary powerplant has its fans in the marketplace, evidenced by the many rotary-engined Toyota Starlets and other flyweight machines running around dragstrips on the East Coast. In factory form, production of low-end grunt, high horsepower and torque has never been its specialty; rather, smooth high-RPM power in a small package.

The third-gen RX-7, though, has just enough room in the engine bay to swallow up a traditional small-block Chevy engine. This particular machine has been modified to roll with a carbureted 383 cubic inch small-block packing the added power from a ProCharger F-1C supercharger, and according to the owner it’s making nearly 900 horsepower.

Now, back in 1993 the RX-7 had a sweet 50-50 weight balance, but it’s apparent from the photos that this car no longer enjoys that perfect handling ratio. If we had to guess, it’s probably closer to 60%F/40%R now due to the added heft of the small-block and honkin’ ProCharger hanging off the front. That doesn’t matter, though; this machine is all about horsepower and not so much about handling.

There’s something to be said for an enterprising hotrodder who builds a badass machine like this just because he can. It kinda makes us want to start scouring Craigslist for a worthy donor car to start building something new. No muffler, huge blower, “custom” hole in hood, big power in an unsuspecting package….and lots of donuts. Enjoy!