Not that long ago owning a car with a 1.0-litre badge on its boot was an embarrassment – but not any longer.

Thanks to Ford, an engine with only 1000cc can be one of the fastest ways to get around a race track.

The Blue Oval has created a unique road legal version of one of its latest Formula Ford racing cars, and it is now one of the fastest cars around the fearsome Nurburgring circuit.

Instead of using a 178bhp 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, the special Formula Ford uses a 1.0-litre unit with 202bhp. It's an engine normally found in the Ford Focus and will find its way into the newly updated Fiesta.

The car's unofficial top speed is nearly 160mph and it can get to 60mph in less than four seconds. It has managed to complete a lap of the 13-mile Nordschleife circuit, Nurburgring, in Germany, in 7m22s.

The car now holds 11th place in the fastest ever lap times beating supercars with three times the power output.

"We wanted to prove that size doesn't matter by showing everyone what an amazingly capable engine we have developed in the 1.0-litre EcoBoost," said Roelant de Waard, vice president of marketing and sales, Ford of Europe.

"What better way than by beating some of the best supercars in the world on the Nordschleife, while using a fraction of the fuel."

Ford won't sell customers one of these racing cars, but is directing them to its Ford Focus 1.0-litre EcoBoost model instead!