Just when you think you've seen it all in the world of restomodding, along comes M-Sport with a car dubbed 'Pandamonium'. Starting with an old Fiat Panda 4x4 shell - see the video for how grotty it was - the team at M Sport then transplanted all the important bits of a Fiesta R5 rally car underneath. The result, as can clearly be seen, is spectacular.
As a reminder, an R5 rally car makes almost 300hp and 332lb ft from a modified version of Ford's 1.6-litre Ecoboost engine, driving all four wheels through a five-speed sequential gearbox. This was far more than an engine swap from M-Sport, however; the Panda shell has been broadened by an enormous 360mm (hence the fantastic box arches) to accommodate all the Fiesta running gear as well. There are bespoke differentials, preposterously expensive suspension bits and the largest brakes a Fiat Panda has ever seen.
Given how good M Sport is at putting a rally car together (and how successful the R5 has been, with almost 1,000 rally victories since 2013), it should come as no surprise that the Panda looks more than comfortable when driven with vigour. Though the video only shows the Fiat on M-Sport's test track, it's obviously been put together with proper use in mind. Forget merely seeing Pandamonium in action; you'd want to be behind the wheel.
Which brings us to why this car exists. Commissioned as a unique car by a very special M-Sport customer (one with excellent taste, we might add), the Panda is the first project of the new M-Sport Special Vehicles team, or MS-SV. Essentially your crazy wish is M-Sport's command, and Pandamonium sets a pretty high bar for future builds. Furthermore, as a bespoking division, MS-SV can add touches that would normally be superfluous on a motorsport build - but which really set one-offs apart. See the giant 'Panda 4x4' stamped into the bootlid using the original font, and repeated on the passenger footrest.
Though the numberplates have been retained, it isn't clear what Pandamonium will be used for aside from merely looking awesome. Predictably, there is no mention of just how much the car cost, but the creation of MS-SV does surely mean another spot will have to be freed up in the lotto dream garage. If M-Sport can do this with a Fiesta rally car, imagine what it could do with the Bentley Continental GT3s it also builds...