“I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car.”
Wise words from (Who else?) one Mr. Bruce Springsteen.
Especially when that parked car is the rusty hunk of nostalgia you used to rattle around in in high school. And the engine fell out of a motherlovin’ Tesla.
That’s right. As reported by Jalopnik, car tinkerer/big-time dreamer Jim Belosic managed to integrate a salvaged Tesla engine into a 1981 Honda Accord, a model of the same car he owned in high school. The result? Teslonda.
That Tesla drivetrain came specifically from a Tesla Model S P85, and allows an otherwise unremarkable Honda to hit 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds, with 536 horsepower, not far behind a BMW M5. And interestingly, the new engine doesn’t weigh down the old car as much as you think: due to a lack of concentration on lighter parts and materials in the early ’80s, the Accord already weighed about 2,350 pounds. Post electric-outfitting? 2,418.
There’s also a Frankenstein-ian smattering of parts throughout the vehicle to make sure this could all come to fruition, including front steering and suspension parts from super old Fords, a battery pack from a Chevy Volt and massive Mickey Thompson tires (the car rides high).
All that’s left is to pick up special someone and head to Lover’s Lookout.
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