Legend Puts 1400cc Superbike Engine In Fiat Cinquecento

A Fiat Cinquecento is possibly one of the worst cars on the planet. But add the engine from a superbike and a ‘few’ other modifications, and you get something that even the purest petrolhead would kill for.

As you can tell from the sound, the powerless factory engine has been swapped out with a 1.4-litre inline-four superbike engine, stolen from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R. This means not only does it create over 250bhp, but it will rev beyond any car-mounted engine on the road. 12,000rpm this thing will rev to. And boy does it scream when it hits those peak speeds.

Just watch how easily it eats the tarmac of Italy’s Castelletto di Branduzzo circuit, and you’ll be wishing you invested in a motorbike engine. It takes not time at all to run through its gears and before the driver knows it, he’s at the next corner and needing to brake. Of course, as this car weighs next to nothing, and as there’s plenty of grip from its wide tyres, the Fiat takes only fractions of a second to slow and turn.

There’s plenty of drama, too. Brake and flames spit from the visible exhaust system. Hit a kerb and the whole car shoots sideways onto two wheels. There’s no doubt you have to master its eagerness to play, but as you can see from the video, the driver is reaping his rewards.