I picked up Dream Cars by Ian Kuah (1987) at a used book sale today for $2. It's chock full of wacky 1980s car conversions. Today, we'll look at the works of West German customizer Gunther Artz.
Artz's first conversion was born in 1973. He positioned the 2.7 liter engine from a 911 Carrera into the middle of a Beetle. It blew away big BMWs and Mercedes on the autobahn with its 136 mph top speed.
Artz later transplanted the engine from a Porsche 928S and the entire interior into a Golf. Of course, to make everything fit, he had to widen the Golf. Its top speed was 155 mph.
He made a significant amount of money in low production estate conversions. A number of Sciroccos were converted for the Norstadt hotel chain. Audi 200 Turbo Estates and even 14 Audi Quattro Estates were made.
Artz's 924 shooting brake/kombi/estate borrowed the wheel arch extensions and air scoop from a 924 Carrera GT.
The ultimate conversion for Artz was the 928S estate/kombi/shooting brake. Because of the more aerodynamic rear end, it was faster than the original hatchback by 6 mph!
The strangest Artz creation has to be this Scirocco-amino pick up truck.
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