Meet The Ferrari 308 Of Your Dreams, Powered By A Honda Engine

A Honda-powered, 1000-hp, fender-flared Ferrari; this one is definitely out of the ordinary. But it's also well-thought-out, built for racing glory, and fascinating as heck.

Mike Burroughs is putting the canary-yellow 308 together. BMW aficionados will most certainly recognize the brand. In the mid-2000s, Burroughs was a lightning rod in the bimmerforums online community, slamming one classic BMW after another on airbags and gleaming deep-dish wheels. 

So when we saw this dayglow yellow wedge on the Stanceworks YouTube website, we contacted Burroughs. It turns out that this initiative has been in the works for quite some time.

“I've always wanted a 308 since I was in college when these cars were around $20,000 to $25,000.” My stepfather, who used to present Motor Trend and Car and Driver on television, was all into them,” Burroughs explained. “I've wanted one since then. It's been ten years since that seed was planted, and it's proven impossible to remove.”

Burroughs has recently become enamored with the concept. Market forces were transforming these mid-engined gems from affordable exotics to museum pieces, reducing the supply of well-used examples while driving up prices across the board.

“So I had a plan in my head; I knew I wanted to buy one so I could swap in a Honda K-series engine and turn it into a race car. So I was looking for a 308 that required a lot of work,” Burroughs explained. “However, it's extremely difficult to come up with examples like that. 'Why didn't you buy a car that was in worse shape?' people often ask. I bought a very nice example, after all. 

The Ferrari's naturally aspirated 2.9-liter F106 V-8 was retired and auctioned off in a Bring a Trailer event. The Ferrari's empty engine space could have held a thousand different options, but Burroughs was set on one: Honda's K-Series.

“Everyone wonders why a Honda engine was chosen. Aside from the obvious packaging limits of a longitudinal engine in a transverse automobile, I honestly believe there isn't a better platform you could come up with using logic alone,” Burroughs remarked. 

A turbocharged K Series can consistently produce well over 1000 horsepower. When you combine a simple four-cylinder engine with a turbocharger, you get a lot of power. The Honda mill is lightweight, and the aftermarket has adopted it for 1000 various applications.

A personalized interior with upholstery, as well as a nicely trimmed interior, is on the way. Burroughs believes he's "over the hill" in the project, even though he still has 90% of the car to complete. It was difficult to fit the engine inside the Ferrari chassis. Nothing about the construction is off-the-shelf, according to Burroughs.

A great car's exterior will also be backed up by the engineering crew. With the water-to-air intercooler and charge system, we'll develop a complete turbo system. A fuel cell made to order. Fabrication of all exhaust systems. He thinks there's still a lot of work to do.

With this Ferrari build, the yummy effect is as intense as ever. The precision of this build is what we admire; any Ferrari owner who increases power, reduces weight, and targets their project for a street course deserves credit. We can't even wait to see the car accelerate furiously.