This Homemade Lexus IS Dragster Rips off Six-Second Passes With Ease
The owner of this Lexus IS dragster built it himself, even making the one-piece body using a stock sedan as a model.
While there are a few out there in the world, one thing that we don’t see terribly often are dedicated Lexus drag cars. Sure, there are plenty of luxury sedans and even SUVs participating in local events, but we’re talking about things like funny cars and more serious racers – cars that merely resemble their road-going brethren, and are capable of ripping off ridiculously quick quarter-mile times with ease. That makes this home-built Lexus IS dragster – owned by South African native Ian Repsold – quite special.
Repsold grew up building and racing cars, as he recently explained to DragZine, and fell so madly in love with that hobby that he moved to the U.S. to pursue his drag racing dreams. “We don’t have the same resources in South Africa as you do here in America,” Repsold said. “So, I’m the chassis builder, body guy, engine builder, the tuner, I had to learn to do it all to race at a high level. There aren’t many cars like this in South Africa, so you have to learn to do everything.”
That much is true when you take one fleeting glance at Repsold’s current ride – this wild Lexus IS dragster. As one might imagine, the racer’s body wasn’t made by Lexus, but it wasn’t crafted by a professional, either – rather, Repsold used an OEM model to craft that shell himself, which is undoubtedly impressive. He then installed that one-piece body on top of a Quarter-Max chassis kit that he put together himself, too.
In terms of power, Repsold stuck with Toyota and opted for a 2JZ with a steel block, which churns out massive amounts of power thanks to a laundry list of upgrades including a 91mm turbo. The Japanese motor is mated to a Powerglide transmission fitted wit a Neal Chance torque converter, which sends power back to the rear wheels via a Tim McAmis rear end and massive slicks.
All of that results in some stellar quarter-mile results, with a personal best pass of 6.67 seconds at 206 mph. Impressive numbers indeed, but to us, Repsold’s story is even more impressive than the ultra-quick Lexus IS dragster he pieced together himself.
Photos: Ian Repsold
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