The Roadkill guys have built some of the most noteworthy customs over the last few years, and by some weird cosmic alignment, a few of those builds have come up for sale recently. First it was the Super Sammy, that we wrote up a few weeks ago; now, it’s the Cummins-powered 1972 Ford Torino Wagon. While many of us have grown tired of the endless parade of fake-drama car “reality” shows on TV, Roadkill is refreshingly different for two reasons: they don’t need to pipe in the manufactured crisis, and they build some truly epic cars. I love this diesel-powered Torino listed here on craigslist for $9,000, but if I’m buying a former Roadkill vehicle, make mine the Mazdarati.
The Cummins 6BT inline-six under the hood was already a monster, but because Roadkill, it’s not exactly stock. In fact, forget the hood, there is no hood – it wouldn’t fit after the engine swap was complete. And, factory torque numbers aside, this isn’t exactly the kind of engine you drop in to be fast right out of the box; no, it takes some fine tuning. The list of modifications is quite extensive, and when Roadkill built this, they got some additional help from the experts at 1 Way Diesel Performance. They took the “Pork Chop Express,” as it was so lovingly named, and upped the ante significantly through a host of engine upgrades.
Hot Rod magazine put together an excellent blow-by-blow of the upgrades, which included a bigger turbo and intercooler (duh); new valve springs; 2,500-stall, quad-disc torque converter; various transmission and rear end fortifications; and more. The end result is a vehicle that could only be seen on a show like Road Kill, and the top it all off, they used the Torino to haul home an incredibly sweet Toyota pickup minitruck build that you can see in the Hot Rod photo gallery. Now, the seller says something that just hits me slightly the wrong way about this drivetrain, which is that you can either tune it further or remove it for installing in a “….Ram, Silverado, or Super Duty.”
Now, I know, the Roadkill cars aren’t exactly museum pieces, and even with their one-off nature, it’s not the same as buying a one-off coachbuilt car, or one-off performance special sold in limited quantities by the factory. But why else buy a car like this if not to use it as Roadkill intended? The seller is asking $9,000 for the Torino, which seems fair enough but I have no idea how you effectively price a custom creation like this. What do you think: should the Torino remain the diesel smoke-spewing monster it is, or is the smarter play to put it back to stock and drop the Cummins into a more modern application?
I loved watching the episode. Especially when they just got done modifying the injector pump and were cranking so much boost the head gasket blew and they caught it on the GoPro. I think they even hydrolocked the engine a couple times. Those 6bt’s are some tough engines! Buy a car that was famous but definitely ridden hard in a way that only RoadKill can do. Love the show and I love the obnoxiousness of this creation. Buy it if you don’t mind offending people.
I love those guys. They build what we dream of. A TV budget helps.
But if I buy it, will I have the best day at work ever?
Who are you kidding. You are going to call out sick. You won’t make it to work. You’ll end up on some abandoned road doing donuts and smoky burnouts! At least I would.
Perhaps- if you buy it while on the clock.
Now I know what I can do with the extra rolls of Contact paper leftover from my kitchen drawer relining!
My favorite part is the pigs on the tailgate. Lol, also that it’s a Ford, FOMOCO guy here.
Anyone else worried about the front end under the weight of a 1000+ lb. motor? 4BT/5-speed please!
Roadkill WAS great
Add a few window grates and some guns…..be ready for MadMax….
I missed this episode. I’ll have to find it on Motor Trend TV. Those guys are living the dream of many of us car guys.
I liked your statement of “not needing manufactured crisis”, but they kinda do manufacture all those fails. That’s what makes it fun. Sit back and watch till it flies apart. Good Times.
I love watching these two idiots do their builds and take their adventures. That being said….I know if I bought it I’d have to completely tear it down and in-cobble it just so I’d feel somewhat safe driving it anywhere!
I don’t get the whole Roadkill thing. Sorry it isn’t for me. Making crazy builds for zero reason died with Monster garage. At least then were hand picked blue color craftsmen but got old. I would be about taking a dead car and making it run again but doing dumb s__t to it not my thing. Reminds me of a kid in school that spray painted his car.
The wagon caught my eye until I read the ad and saw the pics. The car is ruined.
All I can say is what a waste of a good Cummins power plant. These engines were made to work. What fun it must be to drive this thing and billow heavy soot all over yourself.
In the cars current condition those who are dumb and brave and want to scream “look at me” I bought a famous car. How cool am I? All fun and games. We will surely look and see them in an obvious early grave with cancer. Ahh coal smoke. Nothing like it.
That front end needs to go on a ’72 fastback that needs a new one, or any decent ’73 2 door.
I think it’s great if it’s a 12 valve, it will vibrate everything loose, crack the dash . It could deliver 20 mpg for many years, and run the exact same. plus if it’s setup right you can choke out the guy behind you should he high beam you,
Maybe I’m getting old, but I look at this and all I can think is how dreadful it must be to actually drive it. Handling wouldn’t have been that great before the swap, and with another 500lb on the front end, I bet it handles like a drunk opera singer trying her hand at ballet. Throw in the deafening noise from the exhaust stack, and you have one tiresome ride. It’s all academic for me, though. It’s not even close to street legal where I live.
Alas the Mazdarati was stolen a couple years back – last (supposed) reporting was on a trailer headed to Mexico.
last entries echo my thought – ‘just cuz U can dont mean U should”. But that would B rude. They own it – they can do it. I’ll hafta use the delete button, look the other way. Curse & wish for ‘an oem job w/enhancements’ (discs, 4 speed auto, 5 speed manny, etc).
They got everything right except the motor and trans, sorry i would b much nicer with a heavily build factory 427CJ crate motor with a sniper injection system,then you would have a true grocery getter. 😎
Turn Around People Nothing To See , LoL