You know what kind of engine would wake up a Smart car? ANY engine swap. The original inline-3 has just enough power that you won’t get run over in most city driving, the CVT transmission removes any and all fun out of the driving experience, and besides saving you gas money, you’ll save money elsewhere as well: date nights, for example. Our current “favorite” swap at the moment for these overgrown Cozy Coupes is to yank the engine from a late-model superbike and drive the rear wheels, creating a city car that can, in the right hands, put fear into sports-car owners. But builder Mike West wanted more…a lot more. Yes, that’s a jet sticking out of the ass end of a Smart car. It’s connected to the same Lycoming T-53 turboshaft engine that you’d find in a Bell UH-1 “Huey” helicopter. We think the 1,500 horsepower claim might be a bit of a stretch (Hueys were rated at 1,100 shaft horsepower) but honestly, when you stick a powerplant with a four-digit power rating into a car the size of a large peach, does it really matter?
It looks like a Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus show. I waiting for lions to jump through hoops of fire, and 40 clowns to come out of the trunk of that Smart car.
I’m also confused why it says World’s Fastest Smart Car, when we don’t ever see this thing breaking 25 mph.
MEH!