Hi Autemo!
I am at the start of building a Lotus Seven look-a-like sports car from scratch in my garage! Since the car is planned to be very light (1000~1500kg), I am on the hunt for a decent sized, strong RWD engine...I would very much appreciate if I could get a collection of cars together that are RWD but do not cost a fortune to buy second hand! If possible longitudinal layout, to easen the build of the body and the space frame for the whole car! The car is being built for sunny days' runabout and possibly for track day fun. Hope you guys can help!
Thanks a lot guys!
Cheers MattC!

There are loads. Depends on what type of engine you are wanting. N/A or non N/A. Or if you were wanting it from a specific country, eg. Japan or America. And also the size of the engine, like 2.2 litre and so on. All depends on that really .

The best, RWD car and they're cheap is the MK1 Toyota Starlet- small engine, only 1 litre to about a 1.6 but they're decent, small- powerful and are RWD . But that is in the UK, don't know about Hungary..

You may use engine from BMW,3 or 5 series..but still 3 series sounds better to me for this car.
Maybe 2.8(M52B28) from E36,it's a good 6 cylinder engine,it's not bad for modifying and it should be cheap(using gear box and electrics too).

So you guys gonna build a locost?

i would go for a bmw engine ..
why ?

1. so much cars available for decent prices
2. powerfull even in the smaller engines
3. reliable engines witch can run a lot of miles without problems

but a lot of kitcars run ford engines ... also an option , but lets say take a sierra engine xr41 or cosworth they are harder to find and more expensive

i would just find a good bmw (whole car) witch runs great (body doesnt matter)
try to get one with low milage (as low as the budget allow's)

then you have everything you need , the engine , the ecu , electric's etc etc , you can even use the speedo cockpit from the dash

but you said 1000>1500 kg's , and you call that light ??
hmm sound heavy to me , the car def must not go over the 1000 kg's imo , best would be to get it around 800>900 kg's

I have to go with Rich on this one,
indeed use a BMW engine, a 2,5 litre from an E36. And als buy a complete car so you can use more than only the engine.

If you want to go japanese use a 2JZ or 1JZ toyota engine. they are pretty reliable.

Maybe a Volvo 2.5 litre turbo is an engine that could be an option for you..

Greetz Kevin

Easy, Ford. Find a decent Sierra or Scorpio 2.0, preferably the EFI engine, if you're comfortable with injection. Cheap to tune up to 150hp, but getting it up to 200 may cost more. Or even older Fiat twincam engines. I don't think any of decent bmw 4-cylinder engines are old/cheap enough yet, and the 6-cylinders will be too big/heavy.
I haven't ever seen anyone use old Mercedes engines in kit cars, but the 230E engine would've been awesome

Noobs :p.

Get a Miata/MX5

Using engine from Fiat will be mistake imo,he wants to drive that car,not to work on and fixing that engine all the time
Other thing,1.6l from BMW sucks,just get 2.0l from E36(if you go for a BMW engine) or bigger one,it will be a bit heavy but powerful.1.8is is good chose for your car too,but less powerful.

If you guys are building what i think you are -> search for "locost" on google and you will find many projects. Maybe those userexperiences will make your decision easier.