eBay Find of the Day: Ford Festiva SHOgun replica
Ford Festiva SHOgun replica - Click above for image gallery
Way back in the late 1980s, Chuck Beck, who's perhaps best known for his excellent Porsche 550 Spyder replicas, created what in our minds is still one of the greatest hot hatchbacks of all time: the Festiva SHOgun. While nobody would mistake the lowly Ford Festiva as a performance vehicle, the SHOgun packed a 220 horsepower secret behind its front seats in the form of a V6 engine yanked from a Ford Taurus SHO. A legend was born.
There were only seven SHOguns produced in 1989 (number three is still owned by Jay Leno), so it's highly unlikely you'll ever run into one for sale. Of course, the possibility exists that you could just make one yourself... or, alternatively, purchase this replica on eBay.
The car's current owners claim to have purchased their SHOgun replica from a museum and say that it's powered by a 1996 SHO powerplant. We don't think so. The '96 SHO had a V8 engine and this one, like all the real SHOguns, used a Yamaha V6 – in this case mated up to an automatic transmission. Interested? Click here to visit the auction page.
Gallery: Ford Festiva SHOgun replica
[Source: eBay Motors]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
CB 2:16PM (9/10/2009)
Cool.
Can you image how awesome a rear/mid engine Focus RS would be?!?!
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Geekengineer 2:05PM (9/10/2009)
Yeah... no... thank you, though.
I'm really not liking the fuel tank up front. Should be a race-type fuel cell, if anything.
Somebody's going to spin this thing into a ditch right off the bat.
Caveat emptor!
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RowFive 2:06PM (9/10/2009)
I'm curious what the F/R weight balance is on this thing. I've considered trying such a creation many times, though not with a Fiesta and SHO powertrain. It appears (?) that this one is an automatic, which I assume would simplify the conversion considerably. I always wanted to make one with a 5-speed, but figured the linkage would be a bear to sort out, considering it would normally run rearwards instead of forwards from the tranny.
Cool stuff.
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RowFive 3:02PM (9/10/2009)
I beg pardon-- Festiva, not Fiesta. I always got those two confused.
John Johnson 2:06PM (9/10/2009)
"The car's current owners claim to have purchased their SHOgun replica from a museum"
No, they purchased it out of a "museaum".
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Tomac 3:00PM (9/10/2009)
Ok, I'll bite. I don't get it.
Jim in Tampa 3:37PM (9/10/2009)
I don't get it either.
Not THAT Matt 3:43PM (9/10/2009)
Neither do I. :(
John Johnson 3:43PM (9/10/2009)
I was making fun of the fact that whoever typed up the ad on eBay has the spelling skills of a 2nd grader.
rjmhotrod 8:03PM (9/10/2009)
"museum" is spelled correctly.
rjmhotrod 8:04PM (9/10/2009)
Nevermind, I just read the ebay ad. My bad.
FThorn 2:08PM (9/10/2009)
Always loved the SHOGUN!!!!
FTW
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nardi 2:18PM (9/10/2009)
Why would you go to all this trouble and then put an auto trans in it, what a let down.
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sfast 1:52AM (9/11/2009)
Automatic transmission?
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jmac70 3:12PM (9/10/2009)
You'd think the first thing they'd do would be at least try to imitate the body mods of the original SHOgun. This wouldn't be mistaken for a real SHOgun 100 feet away, lame.
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larry raines 2:25PM (9/10/2009)
rear flares are wrong, the real SHOgun had box types that went from the door opening to the back of the car.
This little guy also does not have a front end kit.
Oh well, nice try - but the auto trans and no fuel cell kills it
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len simpson 2:30PM (9/10/2009)
If it,s a six, like u say ,how come it,s got 8 runners?
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kylix.rd 2:50PM (9/10/2009)
Count again. That is most definitely a V6 SHO engine. There are 12 intake runners, 6 short and 6 long.The 6 long runners are used for less that ~3500-4000 RPM operation. The shorts then open via a vacuum modulator above that.
How do I know? I am the original owner of a 1989 SHO. It is the same car my son came home from the hospital in when he was born. He is now in college and drives it. It's rough and needs work, but that Yamaha is a near bullet-proof engine.
Bob-omb 2:34PM (9/10/2009)
Kia was in America long before most people realize. Too bad the Aspire replaced it -- the Festiva wasn't so bad!
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TimO 3:41PM (9/10/2009)
I, for one, welcome our mid-engined feudal warlord overlords.
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