Hybrid Hot Rod 2.0 - The Pria Ghia

[Hoopie]

Knowing what I know now, the truck is an easier build. There are a few cars out there I’d like to do, the 1965 Corvair is only 2” difference on a gen 2 Prius. What I have learned is to leave as much of the Prius systems in place as possible. I moved to much around on the truck and wished I would’ve left it all in the original places. If you do a truck you need to move the rear speed sensors to the front hubs so the computer sees four wheels turning. Other than that leave everything else alone. Measure everything, wheelbase, width, distance from front wheel to windshield, strut height, strut width. As you can see there’s a lot of Prius you can cut away. Finally, weight and aerodynamics matter. My truck is 300 pounds over weight and the drag is a LOT more than a Prius. The Ghia with come in under weight by as much as 500 pounds. The the drag with be about 3.5, not as slippery as a Prius, but pretty decent. If you want to talk, give me a call.

[mannydantyla]

[I'm not trying to hijack your thread Hoopie so I'll leave it at this... for now.]

Hoopie: Thank you! This helps a lot. I’m trying to decide if I want to do a Prius and a truck, or a Yaris and a VW Beetle. There’s pros and cons to both but your advice does help. But still no easy decision.

One of my main concerns is that the Beetle (in your case the Karmann Ghia which is almost identical in many dimensions) would sit too high up. But another concern was that the Prius would be too wide yet you showed it is not too wide.

BTW you said that the wheels poke put a bit and your think about adding fender flares. Nah, they look fine! I think it looks cool like that. For wheels I would look for some Prius base model steel wheels, that would look fairly period appropriate IMO, especially with chrome hubcap centers.

Edit: after reading your whole thread a few times now and in closer detail (Bill the Engineer's build thread is next to go under the microscope) it is starting to make sense to me. You're removing the bottom few inches of the Ghia body, lower threshold for the doors (rocker panels?), to make it fit the width of the Prius's inner rocker panels sections - but it will also help to keep the Ghia body low enough for the right stance. Then you'll need to weld it all up including an outer skin to make new rocker panels (right?). That's a lot of cutting and welding. Just a lot more work, not terribly hard to do though if you have the proper welder for thin sheet metal.

Freebeard: yes the Prius I'm looking at is a driver so I'm told, it has the spare tire on where the body is wrecked, maybe because the rear quarter panel was pushed into the wheel, but it doesn't look bad. I don't know until I look at it on Sunday. And yes an old C10 chevy would be pretty easy to drop on top and is what I would look for, 50s or 60 era. I restored a '83 K10 a few years ago so I know a little about them: http://dannix.net/lib/truck/k10 only problem was it got 15mpg (not bad actually for an old v8 4x4), top speed was 65, no a/c, etc.

[Xist]

I have seen a few things about old cars like Maseratis that are now surprisingly cheap. Can you imagine an old Maserati with Prius guts?!

Can you imagine someone pulling up next to you at a light and revving their engine?!

[Piotrsko]

Never did Van Nuys Bvd on Wednesday night did you? That would happen everywhere, all the time. Gets annoying really fast especially if there is a cop behind you making sure you don't get into trouble.

[freebeard]

And yes an old C10 chevy would be pretty easy to drop on top and is what I would look for, 50s or 60 era.

Just trying to save an old Beetle.

Originally Posted by Xist

Can you imagine someone pulling up next to you at a light and revving their engine?!

Can you imagine have a sound system with a rotary subwoofer so you could sound like a steam engine. ....or Tie fighter.

[redpoint5]

[QUOTE=freebeard;582400]Just trying to save an old Beetle.

Don't they still make the old Beetle? 10 years ago I was in Mexico City, and half the cars were "old" Beetles. They were still making 'em there.

[Xist]

When I had my 1987 Honda Prelude Si I pulled up to a light next to my friend's vehicle. I jokingly revved my engine before the light changed and then accelerated hard when it turned green.

Two things: I always struggled to maintain traction when accelerating from a stop. I regularly chirped my tires on accident and sometimes burned rubber badly enough to smell it.

That time I forgot to keep my tires under control and peeled out horribly.

Two: There was a police car behind me. I was joking with my friend and did not intentionally burn rubber. I was not trying to street race or be annoying, but he acted like it was the end of the world, but he received another car, and let me go.

I later learned that he could have charged me with exhibition of speed, which would put eight points on my license.

You can only have eight!

Don't peel out, kids!

[freebeard]

redpoint5 — It's hard to keep up isn't it. They make more new history every day.

JULY 30 2003
Last classic VW Beetle rolls off the line
On this day in 2003, the last of 21,529,464 Volkswagen Beetles built since World War II rolls off the production line at Volkswagen’s plant in Puebla, Mexico. One of a 3,000-unit final edition, the baby-blue vehicle was sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-...s-off-the-line

Not only is the old Beetle gone, the New Beetle has reached End Of Life!

VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE FINAL EDITION MARKS THE CAR'S LAST YEAR IN PRODUCTION
It will be canceled in 2019
[snip]
This isn't the first time VW has hinted the Beetle might return someday as an EV. Last year, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said if the automaker were to do another Beetle, it would be electric and rear-drive. Woebcken's comments suggest that idea is being seriously considered.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/volk...final-edition/

But we'll always have 3D printers.

[Hoopie]

With 21 million made, I don’t think beetles are going to disappear anytime soon.

[Piotrsko]

I think the pan tunnel assembly is the only thing you cant get new, but it wouldn't surprise me to be wrong.