To some, the Chrysler Conquest and the Mitsubishi Starion were the epitome of performance in the 80’s. Most of these cars worldwide came with a 2.0L 4G63 engine that was described as exciting and rewarding, while the U.S. market got the 2.6L G54B which had more torque, but was far less rewarding.

Luckily someone got it right and swapped an LS engine into one of these – that someone would be John Lazorack III and his 1988 Chrysler Conquest is out of this world. Just look at it! What started out as a daily driver for his high school years soon turned into the beast that is currently gracing your screen.

Image Source: Modified Mag

Between the strut towers is an LS1 engine out of a 2002 C5 Corvette, producing over 400 horsepower at the wheels mated to a T56 6-speed transmission. The car was tuned by Church Automotive Testing in Wilmington, California, and the DOM roll cage in the car was designed by Lazorack, but was fabricated by Art Morrison‘s shop, known worldwide for their chassis specialties.

There is so much going on with this car that there is too much to list – it’s a spectacular build, and such a unique car, too. One aspect of the car that really makes it stand out to us are the HRE 505 wheels and Nitto rubber (he’s running CCW Classics in our photos, though) and we think you can’t go wrong with that combo! The engine has been set back a total of six inches for better weight distribution and the front of the car has been tubbed for steering clearance – custom knuckles for better steering geometry were also designed by Lazorack and CNC’d at a local machine shop.

For Lazorack, this car was much more than just an engine swap project; there were so many things that he wanted to change about the car, it turned into a complete nut-and-bolt rebuild. We love seeing builds like this and Lazorack is definitely doing it right. Head over to Optima Batteries’ website to check out Lazorack’s profile on the car for the Ultimate Street Car Invitational – he’s currently first in his class! Keep up the great work, John!