Swapping different motors into different cars is nothing new in drag racing. Most of the time these swaps are done for some type of performance advantage, or the builders comfort level with a certain platform. These days the most popular swaps these days involves the GM LSX based motors, and one commonly seen swap that’s gaining popularity is putting an LS motor in a Fox body mustang of some sort. Well, the crew at Forcefed Racing had something different in mind, as they transplanted a Toyota 2JZ into 1980’s Ford Thunderbird.
The Thunderbird began life back in 1955 as the blue oval answer to the Corvette. Over the years the Thunderbird grew in size and turned into more of a luxury car in nature. In the 1980’s the Thunderbird could be seen racing in the NASCAR series or tearing up the NHRA quarter mile. You could even buy one off the showroom floor with 5.0 in it.
The Toyota 2JZ engine is best known for making the Supra a nasty beast on the streets, as the boosted inline-six with twin turbos can push a car into the 11’s with little effort at all.
Forcefed Racing made a pretty radical ‘Frankenstein’ creation by mixing the 2JZ with the Thunderbird chassis. The video shows this combo works and this car straight boogies! Even during this license pass the car leaves wheels-up and gets sideways at half track. The driver shuts it down a litte early, coasting to a 9.51 at just over 100 mph, giving you some indication of the performance potential of this lethal combination. This car has been all the way down into the mid eights on this combo.