Yes, this is real life. Right now on Craigslist, there is a guy trying to sell his 1994 Honda Civic Hatchback for $7500. Why so much? Well, because it has an all wheel drive swap and a 4G63 turbo engine (from a Mitsubishi Eclipse). I got a screenshot quickly just in case it disappeared into history without being documented.
Here is the Listing on Craigslist. Catch it while you still can!
not being able to polish a turd springs to mind, no matter how it drives it’s still a Honda civic &I wouldn’t be paying that much for it. Would be interesting to meet whoever did, though.