TopGear.com America embarks on ambitious project car

Click above for high-res gallery of TopGear.com America's Project Sipster

TopGear.com America is its own beast, separate and distinct from what Jezza, Hampster and Captain Slow are doing across the pond and within the pages of Top Gear magazine. Having the greatest role models in the world for inspiration, the editors of the site have embarked on their first project car that should make the mother ship very proud. The parameters for this project are simple: 70 mpg, 0-60 in under 7 seconds and less than $7,000. There might be a number of ways to satisfy those restrictive requirements with things like batteries, hydrogen and nuclear fission, but TG America has settled on a solution we can get behind: Take a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel and swap out its 28-year-old engine for a modern piece of turbocharged VW TDI tech. The engine swap along won't get the job done, so the team will drive its Frankenügen from the build site in Saskatchewan all the way to Southern California for some expert help with aerodynamics (they're gonna need it). Click here to read the excellent intro for this project car series and answer the call to help name the beast, which is being called Sipster until something better is suggested. You can also check out some high-res build photos in the gallery below and view the teaser video after the jump.