There’s a Viper V10 Hiding in This Honda S2000

If you know of a Viper V10 without a home, may we suggest a Honda S2000? Although this engine swap isn’t as ubiquitous as the meme-able volume of LS swaps, we happened upon a 10-year passion project that is equal parts classy and crazy in execution.

Instead of a Norwegian drift machine, we’ve found a widebody S2000 that doesn’t look like it was built in someone’s garage—even though it most certainly was. YouTube channel Autotopia LA recently welcomed Rich and his Viper V10-powered Honda roadster. 

According to Rich, the third-generation 8.3-liter V10 was taken out of a 2006 Dodge Viper and produces 510 horsepower and 535 pound-feet of torque. However, the most alluring thing about this project car isn’t the engine, which Rich kept stock. It’s really about everything else he did with it.

Rich says he purchased the vehicle sight unseen via a link shared in a forum. He says this was during the early days when V10 and S2000s were seen as “idiotic,” an opinion shared amongst the forum chatter. Not to Rich. “Oh, this was a message from God,” he says to Autotopia LA host Sean. But God, apparently, left out a lot of details in his message.

When the vehicle was finally in his hands, he said, “I literally threw everything away.” Except the engine, of course. But from the top down and front to back and sideways, the S2000 was a mess. Essentially gutted, Rich started work on fabricating and painting, neither of which are his specialties. Not that you can tell based on the final product. I mean, he made a raised double L88 hood scoop look like it was supposed to be on the S2000.

If Dr. Frankenstein were a car guy, this is the Viper V10 S2K he’d be capable of, except Rich’s creation is not a monster. At least not in the traditional sense. Starting at 2:52, Rich lists the multitude of pain, parts, and partners who helped bring sanity to his otherwise insane purchase. With so much being custom-made, it’s no wonder a decade went by before it all came together. 

Rich’s S2000 has a 47:53 weight distribution for its 3,201 pounds. The balancing and setup were done by Rich, who wanted a ready-to-go track car. Host Sean gets behind the wheel at the 10:00 mark and is impressed by the stiff but not harsh ride. But he sings a different tune (“Holy sh*t balls) by the time the counter hits 16:20.

There is so much more in the details of the car that make the nearly 20-minute video worthy of watching in its entirety. Or, I guess, if you just want to hear pure V10 sounds crackling through a canyon a minute or so, feel free to hit play at 17:15. Just excuse Sean and his crew for the occasional expletive. They’re simply reaffirming that everything Rich did was totally worth it.

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