It’s easy to see why somebody would believe that Mike Burroughs of Stanceworks performed a Honda K24 swap on his Ferrari 308 just to upset purists. That’s not the case, though. Instead, the enthusiast has envisioned the project as a still-road-legal Prancing Horse racer car on a budget (the term is relative and we’ll get back to that). And now that Mike drove the machine a couple of feet in preparation for its SEMA 2022 display, he’s come closer than ever before to make that dream a reality.
Taking a car to the limit on the track is an art and immensely rewarding. Heck, Enzo Ferrari himself was so dedicated to this that he considered the company’s road car division a mere accessory that would provide the funding for his beloved motorsport activities. In contemporary times, the Prancing Horse has no shortage of race cars, be these aimed at amateurs or professional drivers. For one, Ferrari only recently took the wraps off the 499P, a Le Mans Hypercar that will mark the carmaker’s return to top-tier endurance racing for the 2023 season after a 50-year hiatus.
However, there’s one aspect of racing a Fezza that hasn’t changed, namely a gargantuan budget. And while we haven’t reached the point of the build where Mike lists his investment, it’s clear that the enthusiast handling the fabrication and seeking all sorts of unconventional solutions will allow him to keep the budget in check.
Did we say “fabrication”? We meant “tons of fab”, as this project has required endless pieces of the sort and adaptations since Mike bought what used to be a stock Fly Yellow Ferrari 308GTBi with 38,000 miles (61,000 km) back in December 2020.
An immensely complex project
Now, during our in-depth article on the Honda-swapped Ferrari 308 from back in May, we counted some 90 YouTube videos used by Mike to document the car. Meanwhile, his Stanceworks channel has uploaded another 25 clips or so, with most of them being between 15 and 20 minutes long, another testament to the complexity of the build.
Now, an additional element that may help traditionalists get over the #sacriledge part is the performance. You see, the 308, which was built between 1975 and 1985, was never among the top Prancing Horses out there, with an important part of that being due to its N/A 3.9L V8 only making about 200 hp.
The Italian V8 also accounts for 611 lbs (277 kg) of the 308’s 3,132 lbs (1,420 kg) scale footprint—one reason why Mike went with the four-cylinder equivalent of an LS swap instead of an actual V8 is to keep the weight in check, which is a top asset on the track.
Speaking of motivation, the 2.4L Honda four-cylinder has received a Garrett turbocharger capable of delivering over 1,000 hp. And the unit is mated to a Quaife sequential transmission.
Stopping power comes from Wilwood Brakes and while installing these wasn’t the most difficult thing in the world, the suspension is another story altogether. Mike went back to the drawing board for this area, fabricating control arms and generally doing his best to ensure stellar handling for the machine.
What’s new with the Honda-swapped Ferrari 308 for 2022 SEMA
For the Las Vegas event, the enthusiasts had the whole car finished in white and added some serious carbon fiber aero to the Liberty Walk overfenders (we’ll also thank Full Throttle NYC for some of the images below). And, with the Son of Cobra-delivered carbon front splitter, side skirt extensions, rear diffuser, and rear wing, this thing now looks like a proper time attack tool.
Those cool wheels (should we risk using the “period-correct” label?) are Rotiforms, with the clean five-spoke design appearing suitable for the lap time focus of the creation.
The vehicle is displayed in the CSF Radiators booth—this is the provider of the cooling hardware, which is a key part of a track car. And look, it even has fresh badges: building on the factory 308—3.0L, 8 cylinders—the machine now sports 244 GTK branding, which stands for 2.4L, 4-cylinder, K-Series.
Now, Honda was never a part of the 1980s turbocharged rally madness that was Group B, but Ferrari did try to participate. And once you listen to the Honda K24-powered Ferrari 308 moving under its own power in the short Insta video below, you’ll understand why this mention was necessary.
