Too much free time (and money): $184,275 "Extreme" Toyota Prius

[HeilSvenska]

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/E...ius_176982.htm

Love it or hate it, the Toyota Prius is a boring car and the last thing you'd expect to see snagging trophies at a car show. But three Swedes with wild imaginations and a truckload of cash have turned a car with the personality of a goldfish into the world's wildest hybrid. Claes Gustafson and the crew at Classe's Garage completely reworked one of Toyota's eco-wonders and gave it more video screens than the Super Bowl, more speakers than a political convention and a paint job that makes Amy Winehouse look understated. It took eight weeks and $184,275, and by the time the car rolled out of the shop the only thing they hadn't modified was the chrome trim on the grille. Gustafson is an automotive reporter for Sweden's TV4, and about a year ago the network asked if he'd like to host his own show building a custom car. The only answer to that question is "Yes," and Gustafson decided to build an eco-friendly ride. He considered a Volvo, a Saab and a Honda but picked the Prius because of its unique drivetrain. "The goal ... was to give the viewer a great show and, second, to show that a Toyota isn't a boring and anonymous car," he told us by e-mail. The idea, he says, was "to show that every car can be styled." Saying Elvis Haeggblom and Kenny Kyrk styled the car is like saying Michelangelo painted a ceiling. No one makes a body kit for the Prius, so they used one for the Volvo XC90. They ditched the back doors and swapped the fronts for a pair that open like a knife. The back window went in the trash and the side windows were reshaped. There's a carbon fiber wind splitter under the front bumper and under the door sills. The rear end got a carbon fiber venturi. The car rides on an air suspension and 20-inch wheels brought to a halt with over-sized front brakes. A body that wild needs an interior to match, so Haeggblom and Kyrk gave it a custom dashboard and a center console, racing seats and a 4,400-watt stereo system measured on the Richter scale. They managed to squeeze five subwoofers, eight speakers and almost a quarter mile of audio cable into the car and still found room for 15 LCD screens and a tablet PC with wireless internet access. Four batteries keep it all going. Gustafson didn't say anything about mods to the drivetrain, so we're assuming it's stock (although they moved the shifter from the dash to the center console and gave it an eight-ball knob). The entire buildup was chronicled on the program Classe Bilstyling (Swedish for car styling) last spring and the car made its public debut at the Bilsport Custom and Performance Show, where it took top honors in the eco-car division and snagged the John D'Agsostino Kustom Kars of California Special Award. It's since appeared in Sweden's Street Xtreme magazine, which shot the video we grabbed the pic from. Updated 8:50 a.m. PDT http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/08/the-worlds-most.html