I was motorcycle (honda 450 CRF 450x, street legal via AZ plates) riding in Crestline, CA where I have a cabin, rounded a corner and spotted this in front of a gun shop. Quite a sight if you have never seen one or even known they exist. I talked to the owner who I think said it cost him $8,000 to convert. I think its the only one in the country. toyota prius convertible - Google Search
Um, to each his own. I would definitely have done something with those window frames on the doors. Perhaps not the best candidate for this mod.
Neat that somebody did this... But I actually like the idea of someday Toyota producing an available hybrid Convertible. I think the Prius c, given it's smaller size probably translates best in this regard. I think it's cool that somebody took the time to make this happen. BUT..I also don't think it looks quite right with a standard Prius.
I don't know if it is the same car and the same owner but it sounds like it is. He is a member here and the car has a few threads already this one being the most notable. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/46662-record-straight-prius-convertible.html Aloha, Ed Posted from my iPhone via the Tapatalk app.
Larry. Hi. Tried to send post earlier after preview but if this is close duplicate just ignore. Sorry I lost your direct email. We have a place in Lake Arrowhead; met you at Crestline Gun. I am the person with blue Prius Convertible who has been posting on forum for past few years. Same car. The Prius was modified by Newport Engineering Convertible Custom Convertibles | Newport Convertible Engineering They do excellent work. Check out the Rolls & Aston Martins they have done on the gallery page. Every type of hardtop modification imaginable to convertible. I recommend them highly. Quality engineering all the way. This is no simple one sweep chop the top off and drive away. Every modification is done by hand, slow and expensive. The interior is all modified to fit the convertible, rear seats, windshield moved forward, side air bags, main frame, even smallest detail of the XM radio and standard radio antenna all refitted. Electrical rewiring took months. Although interior and exterior looks the same it's all been pulled apart and restructured. The top is a blue canvas matching color to Prius paint color, the top an MBZ modification with power hydros in the trunk which work on auto moving top up and down automatically from switch on dash. The window side bars are left with window frames. The engineers determined this configuation was necesary to give structure to the roll bar support which also is refitted underneath with additional support to balance the car. Also, to obtain regular car insurance the window configuration was required to remain the same to the window frames and side bars for the roll bar addition or only show car insurance would have been available and I wanted to drive the car everyday, which I do. Many people object to the look after modification but so what.
It's easy to throw stones from behind your computer monitor. Harder, though, to actually make something yourself. This mod required a LOT of work. It's nothing to sneeze at. Shame about the insurance requirements, but kudos to the owner for keeping it daily-drivable! It's cool to see people that love their Prius enough to embark on such a radical project.
The amount of work put into this is pretty irrelevant if you ask me. If the end result is something that looks shoddy, aesthetically unpleasing, & disjointed, what's the point? I know to each their own and blah blah blah, but this is the internet and you've got to be ready for harsh criticisms as well as glowing praise. If that person is happy, I guess that's all that matters but it seems like a complete waste of time and money to me.
No one asked you. Didn't your mother teach you, "If you've nothing pleasant to say, then say nothing at all"? This isn't shoddy and disjointed. A lot of work was done to make the top fit well enough to be a daily-driver. The point is, and you should read this until it sinks in, someone had a vision of exactly what they wanted in a car, and they took the time, money and effort to make it happen. And we're not talking about a $20 glue-on mod that you can buy at Autozone. We're talking about removing large chunks of metal and resculpting a significant part of the car. You don't see this kinda stuff every day... we should be so lucky that this project was shared with us! Actually, no. It's people like you (and other posters in this thread) that make the Internet the veritable mine field of dogsh*t that it is today. We might see a lot more cool auto projects online if it weren't for the trolls that scare folks away. Some people just don't put their work online because they know there are lots of alex s types who will cr*p all over their sweat, blood and tears for no good reason whatsoever. You can be part of the problem, or part of the solution. Well, alex s et. al., you've made your choice. I hope you're proud of yourselves, because we certainly aren't. Just like your post seems like a waste of a perfectly good computer and Internet to me.
No, my mother actually taught me to speak my mind and not censor myself because someone might disagree. If someone puts something as polarizing as a convertible Prius on the internet for all to see, there's going to be a difference of opinion. Just because you seem to have a hard-on for this car doesn't mean you're allowed to guilt the rest of us into liking it. It is shoddy and disjointed. The back looks like a complete afterthought (much like the VW Beetle convertible), when the top is up it looks more like a Pontiac Aztek than a Prius. With the top down, it screams "we didn't think this through." Face it, some cars aren't meant to be convertibles, this is one of them. First of all, this isn't trolling. Having a stark difference of opinion with someone doesn't mean the other person is trolling. If you think I'm harsh, for your own sake, don't go anywhere else on the internet (or the world for that matter.) Are you bolding my name because you think it will make me feel bad for my opinion? You're wrong. People can do whatever they please to their cars, but I'm not going to blow smoke up their rears if I think it's a dumb idea. You want to see cool auto projects? Go to buildthreads.com and have a look around. Bolding again I see.. I am proud of myself actually. I'm proud that despite your shaming, I won't let it shake my opinion. You can't bully people into thinking like you, no matter how much you may want them to. Why did you capitalize internet?
There's a huge line between censorship and tact. One is an external limitation of free speech. The other is an self-imposed moderation to show respect towards another. I highly recommend you learn the difference between the two. Are you sure? What did you expect to achieve by coming here and posting "well that was a waste of time"? That certainly isn't constructive criticism. It's not even respectful. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. See above. As I said previously, the Internet (and society) is what we make it. Your name is bolded next to every post you make. I bold user names in posts as a writing convention, following that of this forum. That's quite the conclusion you've jumped to there... An "internetwork" (or "internet" for short) is a generic term for a network of connected computers. When one refers to the globally-connected network across which we are currently communicating, the term "Internet" becomes a proper noun, and is thus capitalized.
