Everyone loves the Li'l Tykes Cozy Coupe, right? For many of us, it's our very first experience piloting any sort of wheeled vehicle at all. Even so, taking one out on the highway or even any public road is often a harrowing experience. Luckily, the industrious kooks at Attitude Autos in the UK have a solution.
Using an old 0.8L 3-cylinder Daewoo Matiz as a basis (we get them here now as Chevy Sparks), the shop has built a fully drivable and street-legal version of the Cozy Coupe — they call it the Toytown Coupe to keep lawyers at bay. The look isn't a 100% exact replica, but it's remarkably good, especially when you consider the need to accommodate things like lights that are more than stickers, an actual enclosed floor, and a functioning drivetrain. They did commit to accuracy in the car's total lack of glass.
The Matiz was shortened significantly, removing the entire rear passenger compartment section, and the remaining front and rear joined back together. The whole interior was replaced with a molded-fiberglass seating insert, much like the molded plastic of the original, and details like the continental-style spare or the toy car were made with the tire cover of a Daihatsu Midget.
The roof is hand-made and especially impressive, looking very much like the source kiddie-car's roof. The end result really looks and feels like a giant version of the toy, and if there's anyone who sees this thing drive by and doesn't crack a smile, I'd say they need to be checked for illicit alien cyborgification.
Attitiude Autos also seems to have a number of other exciting projects in the works, including a Reliant Scimitar GTE restomod, which is of special interest to me, as I have a Scimitar of that same year that really needs my attention. They're also working on a Rat Rod Rolls Royce, which seems like an alliterative triumph, and a crazily hopped-up Daihatsu Midget, which was probably the donor car for the Toytown Coupe's spare tire cover.
(Thanks, Philip!)