Hillclimb competitions are home to some of the most crazed performance cars on the planet. This Fiat 850 is one of them.
The rear-engined, rear-wheel drive Fiat 850 was built from 1964 until 1973 with a four-cylinder engine displacing up to 903 cc, excluding later Abarth-tuned examples. This particular 850 also features a four-cylinder engine, but of a totally different origin.
Mated at the rear of the tiny Fiat is the 1199 cc inline-four engine from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R, a sports bike built between 2000 and 2006. It pumps out an impressive 178 HP and, at the time of its launch, it was one of the fastest production motorcycles in the world.
Also Watch: Meet The French Teenager With A Classic Fiat 850 Sport
When stuffed into this Fiat, it revs up to 11,000 rpm. We don’t know what kind of transmission it has been mated to, but suspect it is either the original one from the bike or some kind of sequential racing ‘box. With the Fiat weighing a mere 600 kg (1322 lbs) and complete with a bold aerodynamic kit, it is able to take corners at mesmerizing speeds. We imagine it should also be an absolute blast to drive.
Watching this clip did get us thinking. Mercedes-AMG recently decided that the next-generation C63 will feature a four-cylinder hybrid powertrain, a far cry from the V8s we’ve come to know and love. Now, what if they chose to think out of the box and, instead of turbocharging, develop a high-revving unit to pair it to those electric motors instead? Fat chance of that ever happening, but it would make for a very interesting, and unique, proposition.