20B Bridgeport. But then you would have trouble with wheel stands.

So if money wasn't a problem, mid mount an Merlin. :).

#sorry just noticed the "no unrealistic options"

13bt with firewall mods to backspace it a little. Probably be a little bit like a miniature version of the turbo f1 era cars - get it out of a corner, get it relatively straight, nail the throttle and hang on for dear life.

Maybe even consider an inline or rotary powered car with the drivetrain from a wrx or evo or something like that, and whatever driveshafts needed to make it work. It'd cost a fortune and be a nightmare to develop as a one off, but an awd car as light as a 1200 (assuming you can keep the weight down with sensible choice of parts and even engine) would be dynamite on a circuit.

that's a better idea than boxer engine in the front. Fit a boxer in the back of the 1200. Porsche (4-cyl) or subaru, not much difference...cough

I like the porsche idea, just rear mount and use transaxcell

What hasn't been done is Fuji boxer in a 1200. The older GL/DL (Leone) wasn't very wide, so I think it is feasible.

there was a 1600 for sale on ebay acouple of years ago with an ej20 turbo motor

Boxer motors and narrow Datto engine bay = fail

Your question makes me wonder though, what havent you seen in a Datto?

I know ive seen:
L series
Z series
CA18
SR20
RB
4ag
2jz
7m
13B
20B
small and big blocks from multiple manufacturers
M5 V8
Electric

Pretty much every "purpose" built setup I can think of... makes you wonder whats left and worth while that hasnt been done

Maybe Steam or hydrogen

ok so i've been having a little think about alternative motor conversions, say for example you won lottery and had a spare 20k. i dont want to hear unrealistic opinions, something reasonable still.

i was thinking maybe a 90's porsche turbo motor, or possibly an ej20/25 turbo (late wrx).

any other interesting ideas?