One of the best things about the Chevy Small Block is how versatile it is. Just in the past year we’ve seen people swap an LS-motor into a Subaru BRZ, a Citroen ID19, heck, someone even managed to shoehorn one into the front of a Geo Tracker. As a result, we were hardly surprised when we first laid eyes upon a supposed LS1-swapped Toyota Prius for sale on Craigslist.
We immediately thought this was an awesome idea, is there a better way to anger all the salad eating, tree-hugging Prius drivers? We were bursting with excitement just at the idea of it. Unfortunately, the V8-powered Prius was too good to be true. Jalopnik did a quick reverse image search on the photo used in the ad, which revealed the poster had stolen the image from somewhere else.
But all hope was not lost. A little additional research led us to the Facebook page of Autofab Race Cars. The now deleted fake Craigslist ad had photos of an actual V8 Prius build in the process of being finished. It turns out Autofab Race Cars, based out of Elkridge, MA., is currently doing an LS1 swap on a white Prius for a customer. The first photos of the car were uploaded on December 9 2013, with more recent photos showing the engine and transmission in the car popping up on January 20.
According to Autofab, the Prius has an LS1 engine paired to a 4L60E automatic transmission and yes, it has been converted to rear-wheel drive. It seems a little far off from being complete, but we’ll be sure to update this page when more info becomes available.
Comments
Seriously WTF, I hope this is just a photoshop.
Sleeper Status: Jedi.
*laughs maniacally*
This, my friends, is what the small block is all about!
I want it.
Why waste your money? Why bother. . .
The first unreliable Prius. An insult to any Toyota engineer.
Yeah right, Prius if I’m not mistaken is front drive transverse mounted engine/transmission. It looks like the bodyshop is out for a laugh. Thanks for the fun anyway. 🙂
“The first grin-inducing Prius. An insult to any joyless crybaby.”
Fixed.
And one of the most renownedly bulletproof engines ever is… The Chevy Small Block V8!