This Car Is Powered By a Motorcycle Engine That Sits Next to the Driver
Putting motorcycle engines in cars is hardly revolutionary by this point, but what if you barely bolted a Fireblade motor to a Toyota’s passenger seat?
There are various industrial partnerships throughout the world of the automotive and motorcycle industries, but this entirely Japanese alliance might be the pick of the bunch. Not that we’re suggestion the CEOs of either manufacturer were involved in the development of this particularly special Toyota MR2.
Now, it might not look especially special, because it actually looks pretty run-down, but that’s for a pretty good reason: the car was built to race in the 24 Hours of LeMons series in the US, which requires entrants to have not spent more than $500 (£400) on performance improvements. In any case, beneath the bent and dented Toyota shell is a pretty special engine.
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It’s revealed in a video by The Bearded Mechanic on YouTube, who says that this motorcycle-engined car hasn’t been fired up in around 10 years. That means we can date the engine to approximately 2012, which means it’s essentially the motor from the 2008-generation Honda Fireblade and therefore the same basic engine design that John McGuinness rode to eight Isle of Man TT victories between 2008 and 2015.
One of the most peculiar peculiarities of this MR2 is the positioning of that 998cc four-cylinder lump. In its natural CBR1000R home, it lives under the rider, of course, but in this case, it’s sat right next to the driver meaning this car really is mid-engined.
While everything about the recipe for the car is inarguably perfect, it’s created by humans who are undoubtedly flawed. The reality of things created by flawed beings is that they are destined to inherit the flaws of their creators, and as a result, the CBR1000R-MR2 has its setbacks.
Most notably, it snaps chains like non-Italians snap spaghetti — no remorse. This because the engine is only mounted in its passenger-seat position in two points, and only at its rear, meaning it just jumps around whenever the driver hits the gas.
Hard to deny, though, that this is surely one of the best-sounding Toyota MR2s in existence.
