Lazzarini Design creates Ferrari-powered Fiat 500

If you saw the Fiat Abarth 659 Tributo Maserati car and thought to yourself, “That's just not enough razzle-dazzle,” then maybe this will strike your speed-seeking fancy. It's a Fiat 500 powered by one of the best engines in the world—the 4.5-liter V8 from the Ferrari Italia.

Lazzarini Design came up with the concept, and the company says it's waiting for an investor with $550,000 burning a hole in his or her pocket to give building one a shot.

The Lazzarini web site shows white, blue, green and red versions of the proposed pasta rocket, along with what the company figures it would take to actually make the car work. On the outside, Lazzarini installs a wide-body kit, which adds an extra foot of width in the rear and a bit less than that in the front. A giant rear wing is affixed to the rear and a roof vent is added for cooling.

The wheelbase is stretched a foot to allow for proper alignment of the engine and the transaxle. However, Lazzarini says the trans would still have to be shortened a bit.

The boys at Lazzarini aren't totally crazy: They would detune the engine from 570 hp to a much more reasonable 550 hp. The engine would sit in the proper spot—the rear—behind what looks to be a cleverly engineered roll cage. Tires on the provided photochops look like moon covers. We'd like to see something with some Italian flair.

Lazzarini also hypothesizes that the car would need two ballasts, one in the front and one in the middle of the chassis, presumably to balance the weight of the drivetrain. The company is pegging the car's total weight at a scant 2,200 pounds.

Somewhere, Juke-R engineers are quietly contemplating their next move.

By Jake Lingeman