The Wee-8

For $30k and change, Hartley Enterprises will mind-meld two Hayabusa four cylinder motorcycle engines into the 2.8L V-8 you see above. It puts out ~200 ft/lbs of torque from 2,000 to 10,000 rpm, where it maxes out at nominally 400 hp. This is from a 200 lb package. It's tiny.


That's a Ford Zetechfour banger on the left there.

I'm reminded of a passage I once read in John Bertrand's biography, Born to Win. Bertrand skippered the winged-keel Austrailia II to the first challenger's victory in the America's Cup, breaking the American's 132-year winning streak. Anyway, in his youth, he liked to race sail boats with much smaller sails than his competitors and using superior efficiency, maneuverability, and general strategery to win.

I can understand the thought process - beating someone with a smaller, sleeker machine just rubs in the victory. And if you lose you have a built-in excuse, so bonus there too. But at some point he said, it occurred to him that bigger and smarter weren't mutually exclusive, and that the only person who really cared if you tied one hand behind your back was yourself. So why kill yourself to impress yourself? Just to make the boat faster, and if bigger helps, so be it.

Anyway, that aside, that little V-8 is tres chic, and just needs a pair of turbos to set it off proper. Or not.