Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 192: Evolution over Revolution

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 192: Evolution over Revolution

I was recently handed a chance to host the next round (the 34th one) of the Automation RestoMod Challenge (ARM) on the Discord forums, and didn't hesitate to took it. But before we get to it, I'll explain exactly how and why I ended up in this situation. For the first time in a long time, and possibly ever, I won a Discourse challenge purely on merit - and that challenge turned out to be the previous ARM. So without further ado, here's how it went.

The premise of the 33rd iteration of ARM was to rebuild an early 80s exotic to modern (2020 model year onwards) standards. This was important, considering how it was quite fast for its time, even with just over 200 horsepower, but it was very sluggish by today's standards. So the refurbished final product had to be much more exciting to drive, and not just in a straight line. It also had to be more livable (mainly in terms of drivability, comfort, and reliability), but performance/sportiness was still the top priority, along with authenticity (in the sense of how faithful it was to its original mechanical configuration of a transverse mid-mounted V8).

After some deliberation, I decided to make my ARM33 entry a subtle evolution of the donor car. The resulting 328 Revo had a rebuilt engine with an aluminum/silicon block and heads, a higher displacement (3.2 liters, up from 3.0), and crucially, 4-valve dual overhead-cam-per-bank heads fed by modern multi-port injection, a high-flow intake, and long-tube headers with a high-flow catalytic converter. Power output had almost doubled to 400 horsepower, which I felt was more than adequate for the finished product.

Speaking of which, the 328 Revo was built on a galvanized steel chassis with aluminum bodywork, for better environmental resistance and minimized weight gain. In addition, uprated brakes, tires, and suspension (plus larger forged wheels filling out more of the wheel arches) came as standard, along with a subtle aero kit incorporating a front lip, a small ducktail rear spoiler, and a rear diffuser. And with an additional cog in its gearbox, plus a helical limited-slip differential in place of the stock clutched unit, its acceleration, handling, braking, and speed were on par with modern standards.

The exterior boasted an LED-based recreation of the stock lighting arrangement, which worked well enough. More significantly, though, the interior was refurbished with new seats, lightweight fabrics, and a modern infotainment system. On top of that, the chassis was stiffened up for extra rigidity, while additional safety kit was installed, along with ABS and traction control - although the unassisted steering remained untouched. All-up, the Revo had a sticker price of $45,000 AMU - right on the limit, but that's after factoring in the extra cost of the engine swap/rebuild ($2000), body kit ($1500), chassis refurbishment ($2000), and panel replacement ($1500).

Above, from top: The 328 Revo (my submission for Automation Restomod Challenge 33) was subtly altered from the donor car on the outside, but a bit more comprehensively re-engineered on the inside to help it keep up with modern performance car standards.

Surprisingly, despite not leading the small but high-quality field in any category other than safety, the Revo still scored highly enough everywhere else to take top honors. This was, without a doubt, the best moment of my nearly 10-year career as an Automationeer: I had done well enough to place highly in many Discourse forum challenges before this one, but never actually won any - until now. I felt justifiably proud of my achievements, and felt sufficiently emboldened by the win to take the reins for ARM34 - after having built a suitable donor car for it.