Photo: Officially Gassed – OG
The Ferrari 458 Spider is a beautiful car no matter how you look at it. However, the Mini Franken pickup humiliates it during every single event of this thrilling 1/4 mile drag race.
Ferrari can wait its turn to show off its guts because the Class Seven Autograss Mini Frankentruck pickup is much more exciting. In layman’s terms, it’s a small RWD rally pickup that used to be a Mini. Now, it houses two 1.3-liter Suzuki Hayabusa flat-4 engines that make 375 horsepower or 380 hp. Modifications include a steel tube frame, a 6-speed sequential transmission system, and a live rear axle.
It weighs just 1,290 pounds or 585 kilograms without the driver. However, four-time X Games medalist and professional world rallycross driver Liam Doran adds another 242.5 pounds or 110 kg, for a total of 695 kilograms or 1,532 pounds. That’s still 1,488 pounds (675 kg) lighter than the 3,020-pound (1,370 kg) Italian sports car—no wonder it pops wheelies off the start line.
The mid-engined 2014 Ferrari 458 Spider with a retractable hardtop is nothing to scoff at, especially with its 4.5-liter NA V8 engine, which won the “International Engine of the Year” award. It proudly wears a Liberty Walk widebody kit, is equipped with an F1 exhaust system and Pipercross filters, among other modifications here and there.
The 7-speed automatic RWD Italian roadster can produce some impressive power figures, such as 572 hp or 580 ps. Unfortunately, we don’t know how much torque this model produces, but the standard 458 coupe produced between 2011 and 2015 typically produced 398 lb-ft or 540 Nm of torque. This allowed it to go from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, reaching a top speed of 199 mph or 320 kilometers per hour.
Before they got to the good part, they did some wheelie racing at 40 mph or 64 km/h. When it was over, the 458 Spider didn't know what had hit it, with the lean, mean wheelie machine winning by about four car lengths.
Ferrari did better in the second and final run, but was still a bus length behind the former Mini when it crossed the finish line. In terms of time, the “Pickup From Hell” took 6.7 seconds to go from 100 to 200 km/h or from 62 to 124 mph. Its Italian opponent managed 7.98 seconds.
Drag racing followed and after losing so badly to the Frankentruck twice in a row, Jamie from YouTube channel “OFFICIALLY GASSED – OG” prepared a bonus round where he put the Ferrari a few car lengths ahead of his rival, just for laughs. Ironically or not, the Mini won again without shame.
After all was said and done, speed traps revealed that the little rally car took 10.57 seconds to complete the quarter mile (402 m) at 127 mph or 204 kilometers per hour. The Ferrari took 11.74 seconds at 123.43 mph or 199 km/h.
For the delicious 0-60 mph time, the Mini was the first to do it in just 2.36 seconds, which is insane. Its rival, the gorgeous widebody 458 Spider, was no slouch either, clocking a respectable 3.5 seconds. That puts the little pickup at the top of the Officially Gassed—OG list as the fastest rear-wheel drive vehicle.
Despite the crushing defeat, the Ferrari driver was a great sportsman and said: “I'm happy to compete against something so mental, to be honest. I don't mind losing; it's the fun of it. We don't do that on a normal day, do we?“