An Indiana man who runs the largest Prius recycling center in the country wanted a plug-in Prius that could match the utility of his first car, an El Camino. The results may disturb you.
Steve Woodruff runs AutoBeYours from Scottsburg, Ind., where he specializes in reusing totaled Priuses and selling plug-in hybrid conversion kits. He'd long wanted a pickup, telling Jalopnik: "I'm in my 40s, but my first car was an El Camino and it was something.
When a Prius arrived in his shop "that was kicked in the ass pretty hard," Woodruff saw an opportunity. Originally considering a Honda Ridgeline rear, he quickly found a Subaru Baja coughed up from a salvage yard. Then came the hard part.
Melding the two required not just some custom metalwork but also managing a bigger battery pack and electrical gremlins, like getting the Toyota computers to listen to the rear wheel speed sensors of the Baja. Woodruff said the floor plans fit well, and he was able to use the Subaru roof rails, but had to live with the checkmark roof line.
Since finishing the job earlier this summer, Woodruff has put about 3,500 miles on his Prucking creation, with it's plug-in hybrid system averaging 42 mpg.
"I cant tell you how often we're driving down the road and someone will hold up a phone and take a picture," he says. As for those who might consider it a crime against beauty, he adds: "I built it for myself, and I m the only one I have to please."
(H/T to AsianMartin!)