We first attempted to put the 360 body on the MR2 roadster (MK 3) . We were aware that the wheel base was over 6 inches to short and the windscreen was 5 and a half inches to short on the width. There was also the issue that the car was very slow. A new roof would also have to be made, but we knew people have used them for the 360 so we got one, and this is how it went .

As you can see there was no way the new body was going to fit without major alterations, the side windows were the wrong shape, the windscreen was far too small, the wing mirrors would end up half way down the doors and the door tops would need to be extended inwards by 4 inches either side to reach the door windows. If we moved the wings inline with the front wheel, we would have had to extend the bonnet by at least 9 inches. The bonnet would never have dipped down at the front as far as it would need to, making the bonnet look flat. The car would also not be able to be lowered to the correct ride height with 18 or 19 inch wheels on.

Doing the project on the MR2 roadster would only fool the person that knew VERY LITTLE about 360s, we needed something that would fool ALL.

So we looked for a new donor....

We tried to fit it on an MGF roadster (MGF), with similar problems.

We then started to look at front wheel drive cars.

First the Calibra. This had the correct wheel base but the windscreen was still not wide enough . The engine was to far forward and there was too much going on at the front of the engine bay.

The Celica was next, with similar problems to the Calibra

So we went on a hunt for a car with the wide windscreen and long wheelbase, preferably one with a big engine.

We then came up with the 406 COUPE.

Why we used the 406 coupe

The 406 coupe is the right car to use for lots of reasons. The windscreen is the right size, the wheel base after our alterations is only 1 and a half inches longer than the genuine car .(longer results in a better look, as you don't have to distort the panels in any way). The dashboard of the car is very close to the genuine car and with our interior kit the door panels can easily be made to look like the 360 door panel.

The car can be lowered to the correct ride height without upsetting the steering geometry . This is achieved by bolting the track rod end in the from the top of the hub, instead of the normal way from the bottom of the hub. The car is also a big car like the 360 & has all the nice extras people like to have in a high class car as standard. It is available with both 2L and 3L V6 engines and although the cars cost over £25,000 new, you can now get them from as little as £2,500.

The car has the engine in the front of the car. Now at first you would think this not right and maybe silly as the engine in a 360 is in the rear, but it has its advantages. You have 4 seats. It can also be converted to a 2 seater with our simple 2 seater conversion pack. The chassis is strong enough to take an engine in the back, we are doing this but also leaving the engine in the front so two 3L engines with 4 wheel drive will also be available soon. This will be a limited run and cars will be £40,000, so if you want a perfect replica it is possible. It has a large boot and is designed by pininfarina, the same company that designed the 360. The whole car was designed by them and shares no panels , either inside or out with the 4 door 406 saloon . They also use the well known Brembo performance brakes on the 3L V6.