There are few nice things that can be said about the diminutive Ford Festiva, other than it was cheap and fuel efficient (at least for the times). Powered by a 1.3 liter four-cylinder engine that produced a pathetic 63 horsepower, the Festiva made options out of features many automakers considered standard, such as a tachometer and AM/FM cassette radio.

Then along came a couple of engineers who shoehorned a Taurus SHO V6 between the rear fenders, giving us the subject of this week’s episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the Ford Festiva Shogun.

Those engineers were Chuck Beck and Rick Titus, who thought putting the Yamaha designed-and-built 3.0 liter V6 from the Taurus SHO into a Festiva was really a neat idea. Rated at 220 horsepower, the SHO motor was almost four times more powerful than the standard Festiva. The engine had to be placed where the rear seats should have gone, turning the front-drive Festiva into a rear-drive, mid-engine supercar. The SHO allowed the Festiva to rocket from 0 to 60 MPH in about five seconds, which was on par with many supercars of the day.

Oh, it also comes with nitrous. Seriously.

Leno, who has quite the eclectic collection of classic and exotic cars, has a particularly special place for the Festiva. Leno purchased the 1989 Shogun brand new, and throughout his video series it’s proven a popular draw, as it would always show up in background shots. Just seven of these monster hatchbacks were ever built, making it among the rarest cars in Leno’s collection. The funnyman waxes on about how well-built the Shogun was, and relates how the $42,000 price tag rivaled that of the Corvette and other supercars.

What we wouldn’t give for an hour behind the wheel with Leno riding shotgun.