A British auto mechanic has built a life-sized replica of a familiar model: the red and yellow children's car known as the cozy coupe.
"I love setting myself a challenge, and once I'd got the idea in my head, I was determined to see it through," said John Bitmead, the managing director of Attitude Autos near Bicester, Oxon, England.
Working with brother Geoff and friend Nigel Douglas, the 48-year-old mechanic built the car in about five months, he told Carter News Agency.
"We were chatting one day about how more people have probably driven a cozy coupe than any other kind of car--and it snowballed from there," he said. "Since making it, we've taken it out on a few trips, and people can't believe their eyes when we come driving down the street in this red and yellow toy car."
The unique vehicle, which can go from zero to 60 mph in only 17 seconds, is a faithful adaptation of the familiar child's toy with glassless windows and an oversized drink holder, Carter News reported.
"We'll take on any challenge--the weirder the better," Douglas said. "We set up the company to make unique bespoke vehicles for film, television and photography, and hopefully, we might be able to use this car to raise some money for charity too."
Bitmead estimates that creating the car cost around £35,000 or $57,000 in parts and man hours. Using a Daewoo Matiz, Bitmead worked on the car for 150 days straight, putting in more than 1,000 hours.
"I thought a Matiz was the most similar in shape to the cozy coupe; we just needed to chop the middle out to make the dimensions correct," Bitmead explained to Carter News.
"It was really important to me to get the details exactly right--the ignition is even a big button, and we created all kinds of molds to get the steel roof and unique seat shape exactly right."
He's driven the car once on a public road but hasn't taken it out for a spin since due to other drivers' reactions.
"We took it on the motorway once, but I'm too scared to do it again in case we cause an accident--people were taking photos of us driving past at the wheel and swerving all over the place when they saw us drive past."
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