A Pure Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The ONE THOUSAND horsepower PriuSRT8 [SEMA News]

That’s no hybrid…it’s a rocket. A Hellcat-powered rocket, to be precise.

No one – and I mean no one – has ever mistaken the Prius for a performance machine. More suited to traversing a Whole Foods parking lot than your local drag strip, Toyota’s venerable hybrid has never carried pretensions of speed. Until now, that is. The team at American Racing Headers of Deer Park, New York have taken a humble Prius and transformed it into…well, a case study in craziness. TFLcar had the chance to meet this mad creation in person at this year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The mavericks over at ARH have transplanted the heart of a Hellcat into this “Prius” – a 6.2-liter V8 with a 4.5-liter Whipple supercharger. The result? 1,000 horsepower. One. Thousand. In a Prius. Dubbed the “PriSRT8″, it may look like a humdrum Prius on the outside, but it also has a NHRA-approved tube chassis underneath its skin. ARH mated the engine to a six-speed Tremec Magnum transmission, driving all that power to a custom Ford 9” rear end. This car – if you can still call it that – would likely make a normal Prius wet its pants if ever one encountered the monstrous PriSRT8.

I say “if you could still call it a car”, due to the badge on the front. At first glance, it looks like a modified Toyota badge. And it is – but what’s been done with it is a subtle change that speaks volumes about this car’s purpose. Can you see it yet? The middle part of the badge has been flipped so it now resembles a rocket. Quite an apt symbol, if you ask me, as this Prius is surely no slouch with the power lurking within.

The PriSRT8 is certainly unorthodox (putting it mildly), but don’t you want to see it barreling down a drag strip? I certainly do. For updates on this Hellcat-powered beast, check out American Racing Headers’ Facebook page. Check out The Fast Lane Car and TFLnow on YouTube for more SEMA news, views, and reviews on your favorite cars!