RWR is now in a new facility, a few minutes south of downtown San Diego. During our tour, we enjoyed a brief drive in an electric version of the company’s Speedster replica (highlighted in a previous issue). We also checked a couple other Speedsters, both powered by Subaru engines, but with different trim and applications.

The yellow model shown here was assembled for GoCar Tours, Inc. as a market-test vehicle. This company’s plan is to rent RWR Speedsters on a daily basis to tourists in prime locations such as San Diego, San Francisco, and Napa Valley. The cars are designed to have a GPS/Audio electronics package that tells clients about the sights, local attractions, points of interest, and history of the areas they are driving in. Other unique requirements for fleet service include mating the Subaru engine to an automatic transmission from a VW Vanagon, plus VW Super Beetle disc brakes and wheels.

In contrast, he silver Speedster was assembled for a client who wanted sleeker car with a race-focused look and performance. So it features it has minimal trim, through-the-hood, center-fill fueling, and a modern Porsche Polar Silver paint scheme. The wide-5 wheels are stopped by 4-wheel disc brakes, and the suspension features A-arm fronts from Eyeball Engineering, and the rearend is Rancho Performance’s Pro-Street transaxle with tall fourth gear. Outfront Motorsports supplied modified Subaru 2.5-liter engine.

We also spotted a couple other projects in the works, such as a 904 replica, and an enhanced RW Spyder RS. The latter is six inches longer than the original design and uses a tubular space frame chassis with independent suspension at all four corners and upgraded brake components. This model can be fitted with a Porsche 2.7-liter, 6-cylinder engine and a Porsche 901 5-speed transaxle. A high-output Subaru engine option is also available. Stay tuned for full features on these and other models.

Rock West Racing

1602 Precision Park Lane

San Diego, CA 92173

https://www.rockwestracing.com