When most people think of a Smart car, things like economy, low running costs and tiny underpowered engines come to mind. Well, Bill Berg, a resident of Telluride, Colorado is not most people. He decided to modify his 2008 Smart ForTwo by fitting it with a GE T58 jet engine sourced from a Huey helicopter.

That's right, this shopping trolley-sized micro car now has a jet engine capable of producing 1,400 pounds of thrust riding shotgun next to Bill. As you might expect, overtaking anxiety is a thing of the past but seeing as the Smart ForOne (see what we did there) now consumes around 15 gallons of fuel every five minutes, range anxiety may have taken its place instead.

Aside from the fact that a huge jet engine exhaust nozzle is now sticking out the tailgate, there is not much else to warn unsuspecting supercar owners of what is about to transpire as the lights turn green.

Just in case Bill pulls up to a Bugatti Chiron or some other exotic hypercar he can always call on the afterburner to almost double his power output to an estimated 2,000 horsepower. That allows the Smart to hit 170 mph in 9 seconds and carry on to a theoretical top speed of 220 mph. We assume that this number is strongly correlated with the bravery of the person behind the wheel.

Now Bill Berg is nothing if not a practical man and that is why the original three-cylinder motor is still installed in the car, ready to putter along city streets if required because this thing is street legal. Even the air-conditioner still works and we bet it will be called into use each time that jet engine is spooled up.

Mercedes is unlikely to introduce such a model to its existing Smart car line up but if ever there was a need for a petition to get a project the green light, this jet-powered missile is surely at the top of that list.