A 1996 Geo Metro with a General Motors LS4 V8 stuffed where the back seats used to be is sitting on Facebook Marketplace in Los Angeles right now, listed at $16,500 or best offer. That sentence alone should tell you everything about where the car hobby stands in 2025.
This appears to be the same car featured in LSX Magazine back in 2021, a build that started with a $200 donor Metro found rotting in tall grass. The builder actually netted $30 from the sun visor, dropping the real acquisition cost to $170. The original plan called for a superbike engine, but budget constraints led to something far more absurd: a transverse LS4 V8 and 4T80e transaxle from the GM front-wheel-drive parts bin, flipped around to drive the rear wheels.
The LS4 originally powered cars like the Chevy Impala SS, Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and Buick LaCrosse Super. In those sedans, it made 290 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. The Metro it replaced had a 1.0-liter three-cylinder rated at 55 horsepower and 58 pound-feet. That is a fivefold increase in output dropped into a car with a 93-inch wheelbase and virtually nothing over the front axle.
A Cadillac DeVille donated its engine cradle and rear suspension to make the swap possible. The 16-inch rear tires poke out past the stock body, so the current seller had the rear fenders reworked for better fitment and improved airflow to the engine bay. The listing says the seller bought it four years ago, which lines up with the magazine feature’s timeline.
LSX Magazine described the car as a “handful” to drive, which is the kind of understatement that usually comes with a story about a trip into a ditch. With no weight over the front wheels and nearly 300 horsepower pushing the rears, this thing is a street-legal science experiment in oversteer.
The Geo Metro itself is a fascinating relic. Sold from 1989 to 2000 across two generations, it was a rebadged Suzuki Cultus built to do one thing: move people from point A to point B as cheaply as possible. Some versions hit 50 mpg on period test cycles. Before the Prius existed, this tiny hatchback was America’s fuel-economy champion. Its reputation as disposable transportation made it a punchline for decades, but that same cheapness and light weight turned it into a playground for builders with more imagination than budget.
The comparison that hangs in the air here is the MG Metro 6R4, the Group B rally car that also relocated its engine to the back seat. That one was a factory effort backed by British Leyland’s motorsport division. This one started with a car someone pulled out of a field for less than the cost of a decent dinner.
At $16,500, the asking price reflects real labor and creativity, even if the driving experience probably requires a healthy appetite for risk. The listing accepts offers, so the final number could land lower. For anyone who has ever wanted a rear-engined V8 hatchback and didn’t have Porsche money, this is the listing to watch.
Whether it actually sells at that price or sits on Marketplace collecting lowball offers and confused comments is another question entirely.
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