[ZX3_2NV]

For the Ford Fiesta's next trick on it's Get to Know America Tour, the smallest of Blue Oval autos is getting a serious overhaul and going mountain climbing. Pikes Peak is the vertical land mass in question, and two heavily modified Fiestas will evidently enter the Unlimited class steered by drivers Andreas Eriksson and former WRC champion Marcus Gronholm.

Unlike the Fiestas in the Movement, the two racers will have all-wheel drive and engines outputs of up to 800 horsepower or more. This will be the Fiesta's first Stateside motorsports outing, going down up July 19. In a tremendous vote of confidence in the car or his own braggadocio, Eriksson has reportedly declared "I'm convinced we'll be a top contender to break the 10-minute mark and give the Fiesta a proper racing debut in the U.S." If the Fiesta does break ten minutes, that would beat Rod Millen's hill climb record of 10:04.06 set in 1994.