A Roll Cage, 250hp And Lots Of Attitude Is What The Fiat 500 Always Needed

When it comes to creating a brutal road-legal track weapon, the cutesy Fiat 500 would probably be low on most people’s donor car lists. Road Race Motorsports, however, channelled the fun performance factor seen in the likes of the Abarth 595 into this: the M1 Turbo Tallini Competizione.

RRM has gone down the ‘tarmac rally’ route, which means a hunkered down Bilstein suspension, wider track and a butch wide-arch bodykit made from carbon that destroys any notion of cuteness. It’s not all show and no go, though, as the 1.4-litre turbo engine has been retuned by the American company to produce 247bhp and 250lb ft of torque. This power attacks the tarmac via the front wheels through a new limited-slip differential, which helps give the M1 a 0-62mph sprint time of under seven seconds.

Also helping lap times tumble is a new carbon-kevlar clutch and a lot of aero, including rear spoilers, front air dam and hood vents. Housed inside those massive arches are new 16-inch wheels wrapped in sticky Toyo Proxes rubber.

The interior doesn’t escape the weight-shedding, race-inspired treatment either. There are bucket seats, a roll cage, five-point harnesses and custom trim pieces. Only 50 M1s will be made at a price of around £60,000.