My old Celica had plenty of room for a V8 swap (or 2JZ with NAS
) but it was heavier than a Z car, so I dunno if it would be worth it.
One sweet one is a highly modded OG Morris Mini with a Type-R swap or whatever... but really, any of the tiny fwd econoboxes from the late 80s and early 90s would do, like a Metro or Fiesta or Swift. You could strip and cage one down to probably 1700 pounds, and a mild FI'd ~2 liter I4 would make it plenty fast.