3 4 5 6
John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
3/16/24 10:19 a.m.

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Is this how the kids get to school Monday? 

​​​

A mini moke, Prius mash up!

devil

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/16/24 10:40 a.m.

In reply to John Welsh :

Yes.

 

It's hilariously funny driving it up and down the driveway and around in the yard. The kids were all smiles and laughter 

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/16/24 10:50 a.m.

It's a Prius Roadster!

RandolphCarter
RandolphCarter Reader
3/16/24 11:17 a.m.
Indy - Guy said:

It's a Prius Roadster!

Looking at this post on my phone it almost looks like a Stutz Bearcat.

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/16/24 1:39 p.m.

Maybe we will play with it for a while before parting it out 

 

 

 

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
3/16/24 3:02 p.m.

I applaud this action.  Great kid memories.  And , a reminder that some danger is fun!

I want to come play too.

Stampie
Stampie MegaDork
3/16/24 3:07 p.m.

Throw some A7s on there and bring it to the Challenge in 3 weeks. You'll have a lifetime pass to E36 M3 talk anyone you beat. 

Remember that time I beat you in a Prius?

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
3/16/24 3:47 p.m.
Stampie said:

Throw some A7s on there and bring it to the Challenge in 3 weeks. You'll have a lifetime pass to E36 M3 talk anyone you beat. 

Remember that time I beat you in a Prius?

Ill stampie rule you my adapters and 17x9.5 vette wheels off the subaru if you do

nocones
nocones PowerDork
3/16/24 5:17 p.m.

Glad to see people enjoying this.  

If you found a body or enough of a body that made this able to go back on the road I'm willing to come over one weekend and have a "let's grill and thrash at IndyGuys to build something dumb" MW GRM party.  

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/18/24 6:56 p.m.

In reply to nocones :

Great, now you have me frantically searching for something to drape over the top of this.  let's see what develops.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
3/18/24 8:31 p.m.

Just so you know...Chatgpt tells me that the Prius wheelbase is 106.3"

It also tells me the wheelbase of a Maserati BiTurbo is 100.6.  Cut out roughly 6 inches of the back seat floor pan and reweld the two halves back together? 

A BiTurbo is just 1.4 inches narrower than the Prius but that should just mean the Prius tires stick out from the Maserati body by .7 inch on each side.  

 

A Corvair wheelbase is about 108"???

chandler
chandler MegaDork
3/18/24 8:40 p.m.
nocones said:

Glad to see people enjoying this.  

If you found a body or enough of a body that made this able to go back on the road I'm willing to come over one weekend and have a "let's grill and thrash at IndyGuys to build something dumb" MW GRM party.  

I'm in as well 

DeadSkunk  (Warren)
DeadSkunk (Warren) UltimaDork
3/19/24 8:59 a.m.

While I had hoped that the Panhard idea worked, this isn't a candidate for a body swap. What cool old bodies have a cowl height like that? I don't think a Corvair is tall enough, maybe a Falcon, or an old Rambler American. You need to go back a long way to find height and then the body will likely be narrow. I'd be prepared to chop up the Prius floor to adjust the wheelbase, too.

Edit: We all know modern cars are taller. My 2003 MINI is taller than the 1991 VW GTI I had, and that car was easily the tallest car at every autocross. I envied those nice low Civics and CRXs.

nocones
nocones PowerDork
3/19/24 11:21 a.m.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

I think lots of old stuff would work.  The Panhard cowl is just really short even amonst old cars.  

I think a Beetle Convertible (assuming it's wide enough) would work very well.  Tall cowl, keeps the "roadster" appeal.  Even if you had to widen the body the windshield is perfectly flat so you can just get one custom made at a local glass shop.   Make a "Fiat Jolly" style canvas roof and run no top and have the best Ice Cream shop car on earth.  

I was looking at things like Dodge Rampages, VW Pickups, Ford Couriers and other similar "truck" shaped small older things and they seemed to have tall enough cowls also.  But.. I already have 11ty million cars and none of those ideas were good enough to get rid of the Panhard shell so I sent the chassis packing.  

 

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/19/24 9:41 p.m.
John Welsh said:

Just so you know...Chatgpt tells me that the Prius wheelbase is 106.3"

It also tells me the wheelbase of a Maserati BiTurbo is 100.6.  Cut out roughly 6 inches of the back seat floor pan and reweld the two halves back together? 

A BiTurbo is just 1.4 inches narrower than the Prius but that should just mean the Prius tires stick out from the Maserati body by .7 inch on each side.  

Help me find a cheap one & it's on.

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/19/24 9:42 p.m.
chandler said:
nocones said:

Glad to see people enjoying this.  

If you found a body or enough of a body that made this able to go back on the road I'm willing to come over one weekend and have a "let's grill and thrash at IndyGuys to build something dumb" MW GRM party.  

I'm in as well 

If we get this going, you're absolutely welcome to join in the fun

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/19/24 9:44 p.m.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

I'm willing to hack whatever is necessary (on either the chassis Prius or the "hat" car body) to make it work.

 

This isn't going to be a "nice" finished car.  If it happens at all, it's going to be a hack job and Barely Functional.

Edit:  and it has to be done cheap.

akylekoz
akylekoz UltraDork
3/20/24 7:04 a.m.

Official Moke™ | The Only Electric Moke In America!

Slightly larger version of this!  It's mostly flat how hard can it be.  Then sell it to me as a beach cruiser.

Someone overlay this on the Partius shown above, I think they are a perfect match.  Tall hood, front overhang, rear seats on the rear wheels.

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
3/20/24 7:13 a.m.
akylekoz said:

Official Moke™ | The Only Electric Moke In America!

Slightly larger version of this!  It's mostly flat how hard can it be.  Then sell it to me as a beach cruiser.

Someone overlay this on the Partius shown above, I think they are a perfect match.  Tall hood, front overhang, rear seats on the rear wheels.

Thats actually pretty genius. And all the front jeep metal should be available cheap

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
3/20/24 10:24 a.m.
John Welsh said:

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Is this how the kids get to school Monday? 

​​​

A mini moke, Prius mash up!

devil

My thoughts were that the hood, grill and fenders could just be bent out of sheet metal.  A few washing machines should do it.  A refrigerator for the sides.  

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/20/24 10:28 a.m.
John Welsh said:
John Welsh said:

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Is this how the kids get to school Monday? 

​​​

A mini moke, Prius mash up!

devil

My thoughts were that the hood, grill and fenders could just be bent out of sheet metal.  A few washing machines should do it.  A refrigerator for the sides.  

Seems reasonable and doable, but I'm not at all excited for the eventual outcome of a Mini-Moke.  I just don't think that juice is worth the squeeze.

 

 

DeadSkunk  (Warren)
DeadSkunk (Warren) UltimaDork
3/20/24 11:27 a.m.

In reply to akylekoz :

Maybe hack up an older Jeep body. Lengthening the sides would be easy, just flat sheet and straight tubing.Marketplace - 1947 Jeep Willy | Facebook

Product photo of 1947 Jeep Willy

QuasiMofo (John Brown)
QuasiMofo (John Brown) MegaDork
3/20/24 11:31 a.m.

I wish I hadn't let the Panhard body go after all the crap that happened with the Cruze... 

It's just not worth the return trip to me currently. 

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/20/24 11:43 a.m.
Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
3/20/24 1:03 p.m.
3 4 5 6

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
5FpcREW0Rt0JEmhFCBFC5nFeTQvKlKgCfLdqmQh6s2gnJ4EyQUqwOFMvJaQqCspG