The only Kia I wouldn’t mind driving…
I’ve lived down the road from this modified Kia Soul for six years now. I’ve watched as it was slowly transformed bit by bit into the car you see below.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting it’s owner at a car meet called Mondays Don’t Suck. He showed up just as the show was ending and starting passing out flyers for a local convention. I got to ask him, why, out of every car you could turn a car into a time machine replica, why do it to a Kia Soul? He replied that he was simply working with what he could afford, being such a big fan of the Back To The Future movies as he was.
All of the additions have a homemade charm that brings to mind a lovingly put together costume for a convention. It’s not perfect, but it’s clear there was much time put into the project so that it became so much greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Roads? Where we’re going… we still need roads.
Interesting-
The me from thirty years ago could have created something similar, but the me from today sure sounds like my Dad-
“Son, putting all those screw holes on that car is going to ruin the resale value.”
On the other hand, he won’t shed any parts while driving down the road….
Resale value on a Kia Soul? Screw away!
My thoughts exactly!
LOL-
Back in the day, I used that approach with Ford Pintos- Use up a $600 sh**box in any fashion you desire.
Today, even a Kia Soul bottom feeder seems MUCH nicer than those beaters, so my head can’t wrap around this dismissive attitude.
It’s no less likely than Busted’s 1970s Viva
https://www.popjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/year-3000-b.jpg
I would have tried a different direction – This would be a great platform for railroad-related items. Who doesn’t love Soul Train?
My guess is the owner, along with many/most of those not “of a certain age” have never heard of nor know anything about Soul Train (I had to think about it for a minute)…That doesn’t make it wrong, it just makes it what it is. 🙂
Yes Jim, thank you for the kind reminder that all of my references to popular culture are now from 50 years ago. Can this doddering codger be saved? Does he want to be? 😊
Nice effort by the owner. I suspect the owner is not a designer foremost, as the edits appear fairly conservative. There are some amazingly well done futuristic mods on the web, done by owners. Paul featured this Taurus wagon 6 years ago, that I thought looked especially professionally done.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule-ford-taurus-art-car-the-other-approach-to-customizing/
The famous/infamous Doug DeMuro just did a review of the new 2020 Soul and was very pleased they had keep their funky look as he was a big fan of the style.
I’d love to hear him comment on this one!
…an echo of a line from the movie itself!
What? No side views of this ‘Time Machine’? I guess I`ll just have to use my imagination to fill in the blanks.
To be fair, these are only pics of the *outside* of it, and during daytime. It really shows its appeal at night.
Follow #KiaTimeMachine for all related pictures regarding its construction and convention/car show appearances.
It also has had more work done to it in the time since these were taken.
Conservative mods? Perhaps. As stated to the OP, one’s budget and skill-set dictates what one is able to accomplish. Everything had to be custom cut/drilled/bent/painted/screwed/glued/soldered/wired in order to a) fit Kia dimensions b) survive highway speeds and c) be weatherproof.
Thank y’all for keeping the dialog mostly positive here; I’m used to occasionally hearing much more negativity. But luckily, the positive responses I get outweigh the others, and those who love it are the reason I keep at it.
..And my standard answer to the question normally asked is:
“If you’re going to build a Time Machine into a modern car, why not do it with some Soul!” 😉