Restomods are having a moment, and not quietly. They can still be a bit controversial, but they embody a philosophy we firmly believe in: build or buy the car you want, not the one you think the next owner will approve of.
This 1971 Datsun 240Z is exactly that mindset brought to life. The original 240Z remains one of the most iconic Japanese sports cars ever built, thanks in large part to its long-hood, short-deck proportions and clean, unmistakably pretty shape. Brad Builds kept that visual magic, then completely changed the conversation under the hood.
Instead of restoring this Series 1 car to stock form, he set out to build what he called the “craziest 240Z ever,” stuffing it with an 8.0-liter V10 sourced from a 2002 Dodge Viper, a build he rushed together for SEMA 2025 in just 60 days.
Months after the car first turned heads at SEMA 2025, Hoonigan took a closer look at the build in a recent video on their YouTube channel and revealed just how outrageous this V10-powered 240Z really is.
How Brad Builds Turned a Rusty 240Z Into a Viper-Powered SEMA Monster
In the video, Brad Builds says he bought the 1971 Datsun 240Z chassis more than five years ago, which was a salvage-title Copart shell with a destroyed front end. He then spent years repairing rust and sorting the shell before finally committing to a full build. Once he decided it would be a restomod rather than a restoration, he went hunting for the biggest engine he could realistically fit.
That search led him to a 2002 Dodge Viper-sourced 8.0-liter V10, which he found on Facebook Marketplace in Alabama and drove 15 hours from Austin, Texas, to pick up.
Getting the V10 into the tiny Z was pure fabrication madness. Brad says he installed the engine through the bottom of the car, then heavily notched the firewall and transmission tunnel to clear the huge Viper T-56 bellhousing, with the swap ultimately backed up by a Viper T-56, a Ford Super 8.8 rear end, and a modified Viper driveshaft. He even had to rework the steering, pushing the rack about three inches up and forward to clear the Viper’s oil pan, yet the car still retains manual steering.
Brad also learned that headers and cat removal could free up more power, so he had Euro Classic Motorsports build a custom set of headers for the car. The Viper V10 should be around 450 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque in stock form, and with those changes, Brad figures this swap now lands somewhere in the 400-to-500-horsepower range.
A Homebuilt Masterpiece
What really separates this build from much of the SEMA eye candy is how much Brad did himself. He handled the fabrication, built the roll cage, created the tubular front end, designed the body kit and headlights, and worked through a long list of custom details himself, while only outsourcing the headers, the wrap, and the power distribution module, or PDM.
The headlights are especially clever because they do more than just hold bulbs, with Brad turning the inserts into airflow channels that route air through the buckets and back to the brakes, rather than letting it pile up at the nose. The finished car also shows how many different skills went into it, from 3D printing and CAD work to those brake-cooling headlight inserts, Motegi wheels chosen for a period-correct look, and a wrap that became the smart last-minute answer when there was no time left to paint.
Even with all that work, Brad wanted the car to still read like a Datsun 240Z rather than a total caricature, which is why the body kit, wheel choice, and interior details stop short of wiping out the original shape. Right now, the build is drivable but still missing a full hood and grille, leaving the engine, radiator, and oil cooler exposed.
Brad says the plan is to add an original-style grille and a half-cut hood that covers part of the front while keeping that huge V10 on display.
What a Wild 240Z Restomod Like This Might Cost
Brad Builds has not revealed what this V10-swapped 240Z cost to build, and that is before you factor in the hours of fabrication, CAD work, 3D printing, wiring, and trial-and-error that simply cannot be priced cleanly. As a starting point, Classic.com currently pegs the broader Datsun 240Z market at about $34,954, though a rougher, already-modified, or incomplete 1971 car would be a more suitable restomod donor than a clean survivor.
Sourcing the right Viper engine is not cheap either. Current listings show 2000-2002 Dodge Viper 8.0-liter V10s trade for around $10,000, which gives a decent snapshot of what Brad’s second-generation V10 swap could cost before installation, fabrication, or supporting parts even enter the equation.
Brad Builds took an iconic but modestly powered 240Z, taught himself along the way, handled most of the work himself, and turned it into something wildly original, wildly ambitious, and undeniably cool. And in a world full of overbuilt show cars, this Viper V10-swapped Datsun still stands out because it feels equal parts insane, inventive, and genuinely home-built.