This is the only Local Motors Rally Fighter with a BMW M57 3.0L Diesel Engine.
Remember the Local Motors Rally Fighter? It was a crowd-source designed street legal desert dune buggy-like car you’d see mobbing down the road or popping up at your local Cars and Coffee. Although Local Motors stopped selling the Rally Fighter, the company is still around, including some of its test vehicles, like his Beta under a dust cover for six years.
According to one of the O.G. Local Motors employees involved in countless Rally Fighter builds, he’s bought the original Rally Fighter Beta test vehicle not meant for the public. He recently brought it out into the light and has plans to restore it to OEM perfection.
Check out a couple of photos he shared on Instagram as well as a quote from the new owner on Reddit where I first found the photo.
Although the Rally Fighter has a 6.2L GM LS3 V8 under the hood, this Beta vehicle did not have that engine, it has a BMW Turbo diesel. Stock, the M57, in its most powerful form puts out a generous 286 HP and 428 lb-ft. This M57 sounds heavily modified.
According to his caption,
Last I had it on a dyno it made it made 368HP and 612ft lb of torque to the rear wheels.
Here are some other technical details spelled out for us.
It has a full tube chassis with composite body panels, #longtravel suspension AA arm up front with a center link and an 8.8 in the rear located with a Watts Link to clear the BMW 335D fuel tank. It is the worlds first crowdsourced car and was designed built by a determined and talented team in 18 Months.
Believe it or not, you’ve probably already seen this exact Rally Fighter as it has a role in the 2014 Transformer: Age of Extinction movie.
The Rally Fighter also made appearances in “Machete Kills” and “The Fate of the Furious.”
Its new owner says several former Local Motors employees will be working on this Beta model.
It’s cool to see how close to the production model the Beta is and I’m glad to hear this vehicle is being preserved for posterity’s sake.
And if you want a Rally Fighter, bad luck mate, because they stopped making these in 2016. You can, occasionally, find one pop up for sale, but be prepared to spend at least six-figures.
This Rally Fighter sold at Barret Jackson for $104,500.
If you want to follow along on this one-of-a-kind rebuild, give @SlicknessIndustries a follow on Instagram.
