The Wildest Custom Toyota MR2 You Will Ever See Has a Stretched Body To Fit A Supercharged Audi V8

There are levels to engine swaps. I’d consider the simplest type of swap to be putting an engine into a car that came from the factory—say, swapping out an original Mustang’s straight-six for a 289-cubic-inch V8. That car was designed to accept that engine from the factory, so it doesn’t take many modifications to make it happen.

Then there are more serious swaps, where an engine is shoehorned into a chassis that was never designed to hold it. I’d put cars like V8-swapped Miatas and Caymans into this category. While there are many modifications needed beneath the skin, you can get the car running without changing its exterior appearance if you know what you’re doing.

Then there’s the crazy swaps—the stuff that needs some serious chassis modifications to pull off. In that category. I’d place this Toyota MR2, which, over the course of almost a decade, has had its body stretched by nearly a foot to accommodate a supercharged Audi V8. Despite the serious changes to the design, it looks incredibly cool—like a Toyota-badged NSX fighter that never was. And best of all, it’s for sale.

A Near-Decade-Old Project

This unique MR2 is the brainchild of Marty Sweatt, a retired airline mechanic. Back in March 2017, he published his first video to YouTube, documenting his endeavor to swap a 4.2-liter Audi V8 ripped out of a 2004 Allroad into a second-generation Toyota MR2.

Though his videos never really took off in popularity, Sweatt kept at it, filming his journey to get this V8 longitudinally mounted behind the cabin of the MR2. For some context, the MR2 certainly cannot accommodate an engine this large from the factory. These cars only ever came with four-cylinder powerplants, transversely mounted to the body to keep the wheelbase nice and short.

That didn’t matter to Sweatt, who had no qualms about making space where there previously was none. He sliced the car in half, adding 10.5 inches of metal and bodywork behind the passenger cell to physically stretch the car to fit. He also widened the rear by six inches to add more tire. You’d think that would immediately throw off the MR2’s iconic design, but honestly, the car looks just as cool as it did before, if not better. Here’s what it looked like in February 2021, when most of the bodywork was stock, aside from the stretched wheelbase:

Looks pretty well done, right? Aside from the vented hood and air scoop, you’d think this were a totally stock MR2 that left the factory after being stretched a bit, ready and waiting to go head-to-head in a Best Motoring track battle against an NSX.

Since that part of the project, Sweatt made a handful of cosmetic changes, including a splitter up front, some side skirts, new wheels with Lamborghini center caps, and new side scoops for pumping more air into the engine bay. The top half of the car has also been painted black.

Though I think I would’ve preferred if Sweatt kept the car as stock-looking as possible, I don’t mind its current appearance, either. It reminds me of something you’d see out of the early 2000s JDM scene, a sports car with some flashy mods that has the power to back them up.

A Parts Mashup Extravaganza

Though the engine started off naturally aspirated, Sweatt eventually added an Eaton M90 supercharger to the top of the intake. Anyone familiar with the world of low-budget horsepower will know you can find these superchargers for cheap, as they were used on General Motors’ wildly popular 3800-series V6. The exhaust is mostly custom, but the muffler is lifted from another GM product: a Buick Grand National.

Sweatt originally planned to use the Allroad’s five-speed automatic, but he eventually swapped to a three-speed from an Audi 5000 sedan. Keeping everything cool are three radiators—two on the side, and a third up front lifted from an NSX (ironic, isn’t it?). The hydraulically assisted power steering has been deleted in favor of an electronically assisted system that can be switched on or off with a toggle in the cabin.

The parts-bin specialness continues on the inside. There’s an aftermarket GPS-based speedometer powering the OEM Toyota speedo, an Android head unit, and a separate Garmin GPS sticking out of the dashboard. The transmission is controlled via an electronic push-button pad where the shifter would normally be, and the seats are straight out of a Nissan 350Z. Here’s a walkaround and driving video of the car as it sits today:

If you’d rather not hear about how the car is built and just want to hear how it rips down the road, I recommend skipping to the 8:15 mark. Please be sure to turn up the volume.

All Yours, For a Price

After nearly a decade of building and tinkering, Sweatt has decided to part ways with the elongated MR2, which he’s dubbed “Typhoon.” It’s listed for sale right now on eBay Motors with an asking price of $60,000 or best offer.

Like any project car, this one has its quirks. The tachometer doesn’t work, nor does the aftermarket electronically powered air conditioning system installed in the nose area. Sweatt says the supercharger makes seven pounds of boost, but the setup still needs to be tuned.

Sweatt says there isn’t an MR2 quite like this, but the truly MR2-obsessed will be familiar with the SARD MC8-R, a one-off, twin-turbo V8-powered MR2 built in the mid-1990s to go racing. From Road & Track:

SARD, short for Sigma Advanced Racing Development, is a Japanese tuner and race team that was aligned with Toyota. The MC8-R was a heavily modified MR2 with a twin-turbo 4.0 liter V8 under the hood. It had 600 horsepower and looked the part, but in 1995 and 1996 it was up against some of the toughest competition Le Mans had ever seen.

Like Sweatt’s car, the MC8-R had its body lengthened and rear end widened to accommodate the V8 and extra power, and featured heavily modified bodywork. But unlike Sweatt’s car, the SARD has the provenance of an ultra-rare homologation special. So it’s tough to pin down a true value.

Whether you think this stretched MR2 is worth $60,000 will depend on your perspective. Sure, you could easily buy a Porsche Cayman or a Lotus Evora that’s quicker and likely more fun to drive. That’s probably what I’d do if I had the cash. But I could totally see someone buying this car just to appreciate all of the work and the engineering that’s gone into it. I could also see someone who’s mechanically savvy swapping out the three-speed auto for a manual Porsche transaxle to liven up the experience.

No matter who buys this car and what they do with it, I hope they keep posting about it online. I’ve been following this build for years, so I’m invested regardless of its fate.

Top graphic image: Marty Sweatt / eBay