GM’s hallowed small-block V8 has found its way into a number of vehicles over the years. Up until now though, a European-market Chevy (nee Daewoo) Matiz wasn’t one of them.

Short of wheelbase and with an engine bay the size of a coin purse, the diminutive Matiz doesn’t lend itself well to engine swaps. Still, that didn’t seem to faze these enterprising Belgians. They decided their Chevy Matiz would look better with an extra foot of track width and a ‘proper’ Chevy motor under its short bonnet.

And it ain’t any old GM V8 either. It’s a bona-fide, full-fat, 7.0 litre LS7 V8 lifted from a C6 Corvette Z06. And with a stonking 404kW emanating from its crankshaft, it’ll launch the lightweight city car from nought to 100kph in a supercar-slaying 3.7 seconds and take it to a top speed of 260kph. The 0-200kmh dash is accomplished in just 10.94 seconds - quicker than a standard Matiz takes to reach half that velocity.

Yves Fourdin and the dudes at Fourdin Auto Sport are the folk responsible for turning this Matiz from a sub 1.0 litre FWD shopping cart into a 7.0 litre, tyre-destroying circuit racing monster. It’s race-ready, although we’ve no idea what racing category this pint-sized monster would fit into. Whatever the case we salute you, Monsieur Fourdin.

[Autoblog.nl, via Worldcarfans]