Words: John Gunnell   Photos: Christa Haley

Mark Cryer and his son Nick Cryer had their attention-getting hot rod Smart Car nicknamed “Nu-Big Thing” at the Race & Performance Expo in St. Charles, Ill. There is actually very little that’s Smart Car-like about this car except its blue and white body, which came from a Smart Car that was in a frontal collision and nearly sent to be shredded.

Years ago, Mark Cryer raced a big-block powered Vespa (car, not scooter) at Route 30 Drag Strip in Merriville, Ind. Vespa cars were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His car was very popular with the racing community, and “Nu-Big Thing” was built as a tribute car to honor the old Vespa.

Underneath the body is a custom-built, tubular space frame chassis and a big-block Chevrolet V-8. Several engine configurations have been installed in the car, including a 462-cid Chevy big block and then a 555-cid big block dragster engine. It took about half a year to build the car, which debuted in 2014.

With both engines, the car was fast. As you can imagine, a Smart Car body doesn’t weigh much, and the race car’s power-to-weight ratio is awesome. The Cryers also made a swap to wider tires as the engine displacement grew.

There are numerous online videos of the car drag racing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., often blowing the doors off late-model Mustangs. And Mustang parts-supplied Brenspeed (www.brenspeed.com) has its name on a promotional card that was being handed out at the Race & Performance Expo.

According to reports, the car ran in the low 13s and low 12s several years ago and then got down into the low 11s by 2014. It turned in an 11.38 second pass at 116.95 mph on June 16 of that year. On Aug. 18, 2014, the car was back at Route 66 Raceway to make a 10.51 second 127.43 mph pass. Later, an even faster 10.26 seconds at 130.83 mph run was turned in. Mark has stated that he expects to eventually get the car into the 9-second bracket with the improvements he and Nick have made.

There is another Smart Car on the Web that has a jet helicopter engine installed in it. The engine is actually longer than the car. The red car is also billed as the “World’s Fastest Smart Car,” but the video shows it cruising around a short circular track, rather than blasting down a drag strip at 130 mph. So, we think that Mark and Nick’s claim to the title stands.