With a New ‘Scaremont’ Project Underway, Jaren Niewinski Still Focused on Getting Turbo Station Wagon Ready for Sick Summer
We were introduced to the unique 1987 Chrysler Town and Country wagon of Jaren Niewinski at the 2023 edition of Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes, and the turbocharged front-wheel-drive wagon surprised a few people with a best run of 12.22 at 112 mph during the week.
And although we will see the wagon back on Sick Summer this year, Jaren has another project underway that last year’s Sick Summer helped inspire.
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“Well, honestly I was cruising Facebook Marketplace a year ago, and this car popped up for 500 bucks,” said Jaren. “I’m a Mopar guy, but a car enthusiast also. When a car guy sees a Fairmont Futura for 500 bucks, you click on that ad. It looked pretty clean, and I beat everyone to it.”
Jaren started collecting small block Ford parts over the summer, but then Sick Summer of 2023 threw a Mopar wrench in his plans.
“I met Tyler Garlock and Fonzie Novelo over Sick Summer, and loved the idea of something different in a box Fox (for example, the Barramont). Talking with Tyler, I saw how nice a Gen 3 HEMI fits in the Fox engine bay.”
With the change in plans in place, Jaren picked up a 5.7-liter HEMI, some Eagle cylinder heads, a 6.1-liter intake and headers. Since everything is better with a turbocharger, Jaren scored a 78/75-millimeter turbo to top it all off.
“This is more of a grudge / no prep car for me,” said Jaren. “Of course, it will be a street car. I will always hang onto the wagon, as I’ve kind of dedicated it to drag-and-drive.”
He hasn’t completely ruled out the Fairmont, now named the ‘Scaremont’, for drag-and-drive duty, but the wagon will still get the nod for this year’s edition of Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks.
Not all the money and resources are going to the new build though, as Jaren is giving the Town and Country wagon some upgrades as well, with a new turbocharger, cylinder head and ECU on the ‘to-do’ list.
After the cylinder head on the 4-cylinder got a little toasty last season, Jaren is swapping it for one with better flow numbers. He also tapped Forced Performance for an upgraded turbo, noting it should net him more power on way lower boost levels and tame down the cylinder temps.
“The ECU upgrade was kind of a necessity,” Jaren continued. “We have the capabilities to tune the factory ECU, but its limited. The Gold box is much more user friendly, and much more capable of keeping the tune in line. I got together with Devin Shannon over at Midwest Mega Squirt for the ECU and tuning.”
All these changes Jaren hopes will get some better performances, as he looks to lower the digits on his time slip.
“I want to lower my average into the 11 second range,” he said. “11.50 will be my cut off due to the lack of a roll cage.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of BME Photography and Jaren Niewinski.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com