Cohort contributor BigOldChryslers spotted this fantastic custom car during a weekend drive. He took a peek underneath and discovered it was rear-wheel drive. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I do like it. We can certainly play a game of spot the donor parts …
I wonder if that white car behind is BigOldChryslers’ namesake …
The rear view makes the body origins clearer. Looks the rear portion is from a Suzuki Swift/Geo Metro/Chevrolet Sprint/Pontiac Firefly/etc. hatchback. The rear tail lights look like an aftermarket item designed for a late-’90s Honda Civic hatchback. The four-bolt rear axle must have come out of something much older to have so narrow a width–most likely ’70s-vintage, given that era’s great variety of rear-wheel drive compacts. A random guess of maybe a Pinto? Of course, it could just as easily be a Chevette, Corolla or something Datsun.
A Canadian-spec Pontiac Firefly, for comparison.
Any thoughts about the front? The fenders look like trailer units, and the centrally- mounted single wiper is interesting. The hood looks quite well done, so I wonder if it was sourced elsewhere or made from scratch. The fuel filler door seems remarkably high-mounted. What can you identify or speculate on?
You’re right about the Swift body, good spotting. But there’s certainly not a transverse FWD under that narrow hood.
Apart from the Swift body, it looks like a VW Bug floorpan underneath, the shape is exact. Wish we had a slightly better look at the front suspension, it sure could be a Bug.
Good call. Those dual exhaust pipes have an air-cooled VW vibe to them. I wonder why the front and rear wheels don’t match if it is all VW.
Front suspension is not VW.
Floorpan from the KG CC.
That was my first thought, but look at the front suspension: does not look VW at all. Plus, I’m quite sure that with a narrowed body, the VW pan would have had to be narrowed too.
I’ve already spent some time last night mulling this over, and I’m seriously stumped. I thought maybe it had a VW aircooled engine out back, but it doesn’t quite look like it, although it’s still a possibility. Air cooled or water cooled, where’s the air intake? I see none. Are we sure this isn’t an EV, or pedal powered? But then why the twin exhausts.
I also considered whether he took the Metro’s drive train and mounted in the rear, but narrowing it down seems a bit complicated. Just how much narrower is that body. I don’t think any production solid rear axle would fit under a narrowed Metro, without being cut down, which of course can be done.
But if it has a solid rear axle, where’s the engine?
BigOldChrysler: did you read or shoot the For Sale sign? Any info on that?
How about a 1971 Corolla rear axle, or one from an MG Midget? They’re quire narrow and available. Don’t the Legends cars run Corolla axles?
Looks like you can see the phone number (except for area code but license plate is Ontario) in this photo at full size. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigoldchryslers/7966512290/sizes/k/in/photostream/
He indicated it was rear wheel drive which I just perhaps wrongly assumed live rear axle not a transaxle back there.
From what I remember Metros aren’t super narrow to begin with. Something like 60″ wide. Something like an early Corolla or MG would be a few inches narrower.
It’s a 1966 VW. http://www.empirevehiclesolutions.com/detail.php?id=10852
An amazing work of craftsmanship. Fantastic catch BOC!
Nice detective work! Too bad there aren’t some better shots of the interior and some of the engine.
I was hoping it was a rear-mid engine conversion, with a front drive drivetran in place of the back seat…
That was my very strong first thought, but that’s NOT a VW front suspension. That’s what threw me. What’s the point of using a VW pan and not the suspension??
It could be that the floorpan was a Super Beetle donor…yeah, I know, they say 1966. Could be a mishmash.
Without the integral torsion-bar front axle, they’d have to (maybe they wanted to) craft up something else. Could it be…there’s NO suspension? I don’t see room for any sort of springing apparatus…
Holy crap 12,500? I am guessing that the drugs that caused this monster to be created have had a long lasting effect on brain functions.
I would feel ripped off at $1250.
what can you buy or build for $1250?
I don’t think the rear of the body is narrowed, just the front. The rear tires are at least 30 years old as told by the alpha numeric designation emblazoned in white letters. So did the tires and wheels come with the axle? Those F70s would be right at home on a early Mustang and wouldn’t fit under most compact cars of the 70’s other than the Pinto w/o body mods or jacking it way up, which of course was common, I saw some early 70’s Corrolas with that treatment back in the day.
Google knows everything:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19780704&id=pRBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6509,5919768
Got to love those fuel prices!
Yeah, but those tires are $200 apiece in today’s money.
Good sleuthing for more details MikePDX! I actually took these pictures on Father’s Day, and it’s taken me till recently to open a Flickr account so I could post pics to the Cohort.
> I wonder if that white car behind is BigOldChryslers’ namesake …
That’s one of them. 🙂
I’I think I’ll ask for a ’66(?) convertible next Father’s Day!
Yep, 66 Newport. One day I’d like to submit CC articles for each of my land-yachts, but 1)I’d rather be wrenching on my cars than sitting at a computer, and 2)I’d have a hard time making the article as entertaining as the one you did on your Imperial. 🙂
When you actually have your own CCs, writing about them on the computer is what winter is for. 🙂
I kept thinking it was a good start on a trike and what y’all came up with tells me why I thought that. I also thought of a bike shaft drive for power. VW makes it simple and I imagine they narrowed the front and used something else for the same reason a trike would. Aerodynamics and weight.
This picture from the for-sale page gives us a good look at the front end. Not VW. Why not?? What the heck is it?
I remember looking at the front-end for a few moments and noted that it used a dropped-tube solid front axle like a hot rod.
Sorry I didn’t get any other details. I would’ve loved to climb all over (and under) the car checking it out, but my family was waiting for me and small kids don’t have much patience.
Looks like any number of straight axles from as far back as the model T era. As to why? To give it a street rod look? Because the donor VW’s was smashed, rusted, not there? Hard to tell.
Solid front axle, independent rear suspension. That’s unique. How would it handle?
Back in the day it was pretty common for people to install a Jag IRS in a street rod yet keep the I-beam up, so there is precedent.
I was thinking it was a rebodied Lotus 7/Caterham-style base that someone stuck a Swift body on to, until it was revealed as a Beetle.
How odd. Can’t argue with the workmanship, but really…how odd.
That’s an interesting thought – a BMW M Coupe-inspired 7 clubman.
I think Bryce is on the right track, that it is an IFS conversion of an old live axle. Not sure that is a great way to go, but it has to be easier than a pushrod double wishbone setup like I have seen on some Sevens to streamline and reduce unsprung weight.
It also leads to some ideas of using the cabin-back of different cars as a starting point for a hot rod, instead of the usual pre-war body. Trouble is I don’t think you would be able to register it as a hot rod, it would have to be an individually constructed vehicle which is a lot more complicated.
Saw these pics on the cohort tother day and figured thered be a writeup sooner or later I couldnt figure out what it was/had been. Sidney Allard sawed Ford front axles in half and centre pivotted them on a transverse spring for IFS on his creations.
That big, thick B-pillar is just begging for a ’56 Crown Vic-type tiara, or maybe a vinyl half-top. And I wonder what it would look like in Brougham Metallic Brown?
Aargh! “Project 1975”?
Gee, I thought this car was what happens when you make a coupe out of a Prowler…
A lot of work there obviously but a bit of a stinker in the looks department. As always when you sell your highly individual project you can expect pennies on the dollar, I’d agree with CARMINE on the pricing.
I’d rather see an article on BOC’s Newport…
Hi Doug, maybe I’ll get around to writing a real CC this winter when it’s too cold to work in my unheated garage. I wanted to do an article on one of my dad’s cars first, because it’s sure to generate a lot of interest here. I don’t have any CC-worthy pictures of his car though. I had a particular local landmark in mind to photograph it with, but we couldn’t work it out this year.
Reading the comments and looking at the pictures in the link that MikePDX posted got me thinking. I had been expecting to find an aircooled VW engine in the back when I looked underneath briefly, but such was not the case.
The pics at the link show no engine up-front, and possibly a cover in place of the rear seats. So, my guess is that the original FWD front subframe from the body donor was migrated to the back, and all the steering gear locked in place.
In the ad, it’s probably listed as a 1966 VW bug because that’s what is on the ownership. Looks to be very little Volkswagen DNA left in this creation.