Cars that with just a little tweaking go from bland to much better.

So I was looking at a Prius today driving down the highway and thaught that it could be a really cool car if it was just revised a little. So when I got home I did a really Q&D photo shop of what I was thinking and you know I really like it. I wish they would make a Prius sport of some sort that looked like this. With some more refinment I can see this being a really cool little car.

Toyota already did that:

I was actually thinking that "my" Prius would be even better if you could get it in that style as a 2 door hatch.

MCarp22 wrote: Toyota already did that:

Ya well I don't see one for the street yet. The street variant is about as close to that as street Camry is to the NASCAR Toyota Camry.

Im a funny person and wish Toyota or Subaru would put Subaru's Crosstrek Hybrid stuff into a FRSBRZ. So i kind of relate.

On the other hand i don't relate because shockingly i like my prius just fine the way it came! At least as far as body shape. Wheels and ride height change are pretty much implicit in any kind of modding scheme i have for any car anyway.

Honda Fit. Subaru Legacy. Ls400.

You would think that they would try and take the Prius and make a model tgat speaks to the younger crowd. Then when life happens and kids show up and all the other things life brings they would make the natural progression to a "normal" Prius.

Kind of steeling from the Miata commercial of "reminding you of when you were you". Get the younger generation excited about owning a Prius and they get customers for life.

dean1484 wrote: So I was looking at a Prius today driving down the highway and thaught that it could be a really cool car if it was just revised a little. So when I got home I did a really Q&D photo shop of what I was thinking and you know I really like it. I wish they would make a Prius sport of some sort that looked like this. With some more refinment I can see this being a really cool little car.

I think you made a Chevy Volt.

MCarp22 wrote: Toyota already did that:

In case you are wondering how that worked out..

http://jalopnik.com/5894529/thats-a-toyota-prius-race-car-on-fire

http://jalopnik.com/5894529/thats-a-toyota-prius-race-car-on-fire said: At least Toyota can relax knowing this Prius racer, sporting a mid-mounted V6 and rear-wheel drive, has almost nothing to do with the street cars you see clogging up the Whole Foods parking lot.

Like I said not a real Prius

Will wrote: I think you made a Chevy Volt.

That was my first thought too.

I would hardly call the original 'bland' but ...

I knew it. Ten seconds in photoshop made it perfect.

Incidentally I almost bought one of these - for $750 - before I got my Peugeot. Original '86 SPG Turbo in that color scheme, with rare "Aztec" wheels, full tan leather & period-correct ski rack. Fortunately it glassed its clutch during a test drive, before I'd actually handed over any money for it, just to let me know what a terrible idea it would have been.

...I should have bought it anyway.

Will wrote: I think you made a Chevy Volt.

Or an A7:

I thought this was going to be about adding suspension, sticky tires, better pads, brake fluid and ss lines to certain vanilla appliances

codrus wrote:

Will wrote: I think you made a Chevy Volt.

Or an A7:

I was thinking the exact same thing.

In reply to captdownshift:

Exactly what I thought.

captdownshift wrote: I thought this was going to be about adding suspension, sticky tires, better pads, brake fluid and ss lines to certain vanilla appliances

You can post about that in here as well. I will edit my lead in post if you want.

A7 is perfection, one of the nicest cars on the road.

I've sometimes thought about this as a recipe for a cheap beater / amusing sleeper.

1. Take a 4 cylinder Camry, 1995 or earlier to avoid worrying about OBD2, with a manual transmission.

2. 

Jay wrote: I would hardly call the original 'bland' but ... I knew it. Ten seconds in photoshop made it perfect. Incidentally I almost bought one of these - for $750 - before I got my Peugeot. Original '86 SPG Turbo in that color scheme, with rare "Aztec" wheels, full tan leather & period-correct ski rack. Fortunately it glassed its clutch during a test drive, before I'd actually handed over any money for it, just to let me know what a terrible idea it would have been. ...I should have bought it anyway.

So exactly what did you do there? The windshield is the same height but tilted back, I wonder how hard that would be to pull off in reality?

In reply to dean1484:

No, this is an interesting mental exercise that I'd never considered :). I'm trying to come up with some examples that don't consist of "fixing the lights" or "make rwd with a manual"

Every time someone mentions 911 these get mentioned as boring or sort of disconnected.
A tune, an exhaust - little suspension tweak and they will come alive.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: So exactly what did you do there? The windshield is the same height but tilted back, I wonder how hard that would be to pull off in reality?

Well... let's see: cut the firewall and roof; re-weld at the desired angle. Cut the door glass to match the new A-pillar angle. Re-angle the wiper mechanism. Looks easy. You should get right on that.

Funny you should mention a Prius... a coworker from the main office has a Prius and drove it here today. Looks lowered with aftermarket wheels. I'll go ask him about it...

1980-1996 F-150/Bronco: solid front axle on 4x4's instead of the TTB experiment and they'd be perfect.

I'll have to get some good pictures of the beater Escort that my brother drives. Miata daisy wheels, a little more tire, mud flaps, and an Escort GT grill make that '90s box look like something cool.