Nice! It just goes to show that if you throw enough money at a car you can turn it from a monstrosity into a stunning piece of machinery (and a fast one at that!).
There is a championship in Italy: The Fiat Panda Rally Cup 2005...
It's for young drivers, the cars are all prepared by the same team (Supergara Rally Team) and before the rally event cars are drawed and assigned to each driver.
Some pics of the car: Fiat Panda Abarth kit car Gr. A, maybe I had posted them some weeks ago...
1242cc, 130 bhp @ 7800 rpm
Panda's in action at the last "Rally della Lantera 2005":