Taliban’s First Supercar Has An Unorthodox Engine

• The Mada 9 deploys a 1.8-litre engine from a Toyota Corolla.

• The supercar might also get an all-electric powertrain in the future.

• Technical details and price are yet to be revealed.

• It will go on sale in Afghanistan followed by other markets.

Taliban, the militant group ruling Afghanistan, has unveiled a supercar that it calls the Mada 9. The end result of a collaboration between carmaker ENTOP and Kabul’s Afghanistan Technical Vocational Institute (ATVI), the Mada 9 is as supercar as it gets, except for the choice of powertrain. 

The indigenously built supercar was conceived five years ago and it has the sweat and tears of 30 engineers. Obviously, the Mada 9 is all over the internet because it is powered by a 1.8-litre DOHC 16V VVT-i four-cylinder mill from a 2000 Toyota Corolla. The engine has obviously been tweaked, but official figures are still in the dark. Speaking of dark, look beyond the engine and the Mada 9 is a rather interesting-looking supercar. 

Although it is getting a lot of flak for using a Toyota Corolla engine, we should also not ignore that it might not have been easy for them; with budget constraints, the Corolla engine might’ve been the best option. Who knows. On the bright side, we all know how bulletproof Toyota engines are.

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Anyway back to the Mada 9, reportedly the supercar might also adopt an all-electric drivetrain when the need arises. A recent video from ENTOP’s YouTube channel also suggests that the supercar might get a change of name. Apparently, they might call it the Black Swan (we hope Darren Aronofsky doesn’t mind). It is expected to go on sale in Afghanistan followed by other markets.

Everything aside, in a sea of not-so-pleasant-looking cars (to put it politely), the Mada 9 does look the part for a supercar, especially considering its backstory. It is a sleek, ground-hugging supercar that looks fast even while standing still. It genuinely passes off as something that Mr. Bruce Wayne would drive and that says a lot.