Hey all!
I'm the creator and owner of Champrius, the car pictured here.
She has all mirrors, they are just tiny. US interstate law says we need 10 sq in of area, and that's all I have.
In addition, there are three rear cams: one center for backup, and two angled at 45 degrees for either lane.
The thing sticking out of the end was a flexible tailpipe. Which broke, flooded my tail with hot gas, melted my rear bumper, and destroyed version 2.0 of the boat tail. The current exhaust is under the tail, in a welded on steel pipe.
Champrius has been featured in many places including Sloppy Mechanics, Jalopnik, TikTok, and my personal favorite: ****ty Car Mods.
Parallel parking is fine. So is parking in parking spots, etc.
It is indeed a camper. She's Champrius, the Champion Camping Prius. I use her for extended road trips and camping excursions. She's got a fridge, stove, foam mattress bed, signal booster for internet, and all the comforts of home.
I used to have a flexible solar panel, under the tail canopy. Those things are crap and should be avoided at all costs. After three of them failing in quick succession and a whole lot of hassle, I slapped a rigid solar panel on the back and never looked back. I haven't had any problems with it yet, years later.
No glass has been removed. There's white vinyl on it, to reduce heat and for a modicum of privacy. Part of the roof
has been removed. I made a small hole with a vent to a temperature controlled fan, to cool automatically when it gets hot. That's also where I route my signal booster.
PM me if you want my address to send me an Ecomodder sticker.
I'm unfamiliar with Judd Engles in Ohio. I'm very familiar with the Aerocivic, which was what version 2.0 was based on. In my latest version 4.0 I'm striking off into bold new territory, where no modder has gone before.
I'll post a thread once I hit 15 posts. Right now the forum isn't letting me do links, and there's a *ton* of useful links regarding Champrius.
I drive on the highway 75%+ of the time. I set the cruise control to 65 mph, and go to sleep.
Seriously, I don't use any hypermiling techniques. Any mpg gains are pure aero / mechanical.
In order to make this legal in PA (my home state), I technically had to classify the tail as a trailer. Anything under 2ft can be considered a bumper; anything over is a trailer. So she has a DOT approved trailer light kit. That includes:
red marker lights at the end
yellow marker lights on the side
I didn't need conspicuity tape because it wasn't a minimum of 12 linear feet on edge. Rear backup lights aren't required on trailers, but I've decided to put them on my next version Champrius 4.0 which I'm building now.
Onward!