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Ferrari V8-Powered Fiat 500 is La Dolce Vita on Steroids

In the red corner, you have tuning. In the blue corner lies the pretentious world of customization and resto mods. With the Lazzarini Design 550 Italia Prototipo Unico, we’re talking about an all-new corner, painted black and laden with dreams of high-octane gasoline.
Lazzarini Design 550 Italia Prototipo Unico 14 photos
Photo: Lazzarini Design
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This, ladies and gents that like the smell of burning rubber and clutch in the morning, is one of the most extreme takes on the Fiat 500 we’ve ever laid our eyes upon. The brainchild of Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini, this souped-up Cinquecento is the successor of the 738 HP Lazzarini Alfa Romeo 4C Definitiva.

Information is currently far too slim on the 550 Italia Prototipo Unico to tell you just how many ponies it packs from the centrally-mounted Ferrari F136FB 4.5-liter V8 engine yet we’re promised 550 horsepower in atmospheric format or 730 rampaging ponies in force-fed guise.

If Pierpaolo can morph this project from renderings to the real deal, then we’re in for a real treat. It’s a darn shame that “one and only [one] will be realized,” but hey, one is better than naught.

Furthermore, just try to imagine a 350 mm wider rear and a 250 mm wider front over the stock Fiat 500’s dimensions. This thing will be a motorsport-grade machine though it’s not clear if it will be eligible to be driven on public roads.

To accommodate the F136FB tower-of-power, the Italian company plans to add about 350 mm to the Cinquecento’s 2,300 mm standard wheelbase.

On an ending note, who can say no to a sub-850-kilogram city car with over 550 HP and a carbon fiber body shell? Dear Pierpaolo, you’re one crazy designer. If you want to buy this unique creation, you’d better prepare $550,000 by 2016.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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