Well this is flipping awesome! Last year at SEMA we loved looking at a joint creation between Hot Wheels and Ford Racing called “The Rip Rod”. At the time the thing was more of a rolling study than an actual car or truck or desert runner hybrid. It did not run but it sure looked awesome with its Transit/sedan delivery style body, bold Hot Wheels colors, big exposed off road tires and four wheel independent suspension. The thing looked like a miniature trophy truck. The good news is that the boys at Bandito Customs and Ford Racing teamed up to finish off the project and the video you see below is the “done deal” running around what looks to be the El Mirage dry lake bed in California. That hard packed dirt sure looks familiar. The best part of this thing? The engine. It is a 1.0L three cylinder that’s turbocharged and makes 140hp and stupid levels of torque for something so small. There are lots of motorcycles running around with bigger engines out there these days. How can we say that the engine is so good? We’ve driven one. Not this one of course, but we spent some time with a 1.0L EcoBoost Fiesta recently and had a blast. We provided photos below so you can see the thing. What’s fun about it? Firstly the thing isn’t really slow. It isn’t really fast either but with a 5-speed manual transmission you can rip the gears and actually get rubber in second. This car makes as much horsepower out of 60ci than small block Chevy V8s made during the early 1980s and it is about 1/5th the weight. The block fits in a suitcase. Literally. Ford did that.

While it is not said specifically in this video is how much the engine in the little hellion has been wicked up but we’re going to guess that it has been. More fuel and more boost make more power, right? We’re not sure anyone has pushed one of these things as hard as it can go yet as they are just hitting the streets here but it seems like you’d be able to get some decent power out of them, especially when considering their displacement and weight. The V6 Ecoboost engine weighs 450lbs…this thing may way under 200 full of fluids. Imagine a street rod with a 200lb engine that makes 200+ hp. That would be fun as hell.

It sure looks like this this one has been tweaked up some. We’re going to pester the Ford Racing guys loudly and longly at SEMA to let us drive this thing…even if it is around the parking lot. What a little beast!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A COOL SHORT VIDEO ABOUT THE RIP ROD COMING TO LIFE AND THEN HAULING ACROSS WHAT LOOKS TO BE EL MIRAGE DRY LAKE BED – BELOW THE VIDEO SEE SOME PHOTOS OF THE 1.0L ENGINE IN A FIESTA THAT WE BEAT ON EARLIER THIS YEAR –