Well, an update on the ute project.
No dice.
I found a guy who had done the same thing in my province using a 97 civic coupe. It worked great until the cops pulled him over and took it off the road. The end. I guess I should have expected that.
Shame, though. I had some pretty cool ideas. I would have a 48”x45” box if I went with the hatchback and a 60”x45” box if I used the sedan or a coupe. It could have been the ultimate custom hypermiler car because the box is modular and I could use different bed toppers to suit different loads. The end goal was a modified sedan using tailights from a hatchback, and a custom tailgate.
I think I will take these ideas and apply them to a proper, road legal hatchback. I have a 1996 CX hatch and a 1992 DX hatch.
Thanks for the all the info and help everybody!
(P.S. haven’t checked out the beetle yet. I think a straight restoration could be fun, although it supposedly has no engine. Putting an older Honda engine in there could be funky. Will see when the snow melts).