Australians import a rare Aussie engine to the USA but end up calling it a ‘costly mistake’
- Australian drift crew import rare engine to the states
- When major components failed, they were stuck with few spares and a huge job
- With only 48 hours til the next event, it was a major effort to get this car going sideways again.
Published on Jan 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM (UTC+4)
by Editorial Guest
Last updated on Jan 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
An Aussie drifter who was touring events in the United States experienced a costly mistake with his uniquely Australian car engine.
Drifter Jason Ferron from the Victoria-based drift crew Keep It Reet imported a Nissan Skyline R31 estate that had been engine swapped with the legendary Australian Barra 4.0 straight six out of the Ford Falcon.
However, after an oil pump failed and a timing chain snapped, Jason was stuck with a problem. Because the Barra engine was never sold in the US, they were on their own for parts.
What’s more, with a drift event due in 48 hours, he had to work quick if his car was going to make the start.
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Why was this drift car engine so tricky to fix?
It’s a strange combo for a drift car – Aussie engine in Japanese body.
But stranger cars have been known to burn rubber. Even McLaren got in on the game.
While most will know Australian car culture to be dominated by V8 muscle cars (which is partly true), the Barra has a big reputation for being tuneable to enormous power figures for very little money.
The Barra came in most versions of the Ford Falcon, meaning they could be found in turbocharged form in the high powered models or as a naturally aspirated engine in an ordinary Falcon taxicab.
It could even be found in the Ford Territory family SUV.
The result is that these engines are everywhere and they are extremely cheap.
It’s part of what makes the Falcon such an icon and why people are so keen to save them!
So what did Jason do? With a garage and limited technical knowledge, he set to work removing the engine and doing a light rebuild for a problem which would write off most cars on the road.
Two compression tests, a removal of the engine, and multiple express shipped parts from Australia were what it took for the Barra Skyline estate to hit the track again but it’s clear to see after the effort that Jason gave his all trying to save his precious drift car.
So for anyone else with a rare Australian car or engine on another continent, might be time to make a pen pal with a parts dealer down under.
