What happens when you put the largest independent diesel engine manufacturer – Cummins - in the world and put the biggest engine they have – the QSK78 – on one of the world’s most compact cars in the form of a little old Austin MINI->ke57?

We’ll save you the descriptions and just show you the photo, but be warned, it’s definitely a sight for sore eyes.

Running by the engine’s numbers alone, it’s hard to imagine how a tiny car like the MINI can fit all of that and still have the capacity to move an inch out of the block. For starters, the QSK78 comes with 78 liters of displacement, eighteen cylinders, about 12 turbochargers, a mind-numbing 3,500 horsepower, and over 10,000 lb-ft of torque. And they just put it on Mr. Bean’s car? Someone’s lost a few screws in his head, don’t you think?

According to Cummins, the whole atrocious spawn of a car was commissioned by a customer who apparently decided that he either wanted to have the most powerful MINI in the world – technically speaking, put a check on that – or he just has a thing for wanting a monstrosity of a car in his garage. Check that one, too.

As for those who are curious to see the not-so-mini MINI up close and personal, the vehicle will be on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where we’re completely expecting it to be one of the most visited – for better or worse - displays the whole weekend.

Press Release after the jump

Visitors to this week's Goodwood Festival of Speed will have some amazing machinery on which to feast their eyes but none more unusual than the exhibit which greets them on the stand of Cummins, the world's largest independent maker of diesel engines.

The Cummins centrepiece emerged after a previous show when the company showed off its largest engine (and the largest diesel engine made in the UK). The QSK78 engine weighs in at over 11 tonnes and some wag asked if it could be fitted to his Mini.

Steve Nendick, Cummins' Communications Director - Europe, Middle East, Africa and CIS, takes up the story: "We never like to let a challenge go by unanswered so we got to thinking maybe we could fit the QSK78 into an original Austin Mini. It proved to be a bit tricky to fit under the bonnet but our engineers came up with a more creative solution. "We're certain that the Goodwood crowd will have difficulty believing what they are seeing", he said.

The QSK78, which is used to power mining industry dump trucks capable of carrying 360 tonnes, is a V18 monster with a capacity of 78 litres and uses no less than 12 turbochargers to develop 3,500 bhp and getting on for 14,000 Nm of torque (the original Mini made do with just 80!).