For those Aussies missing their utes already, Honda has pulled the wraps off a Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept.
Built by a specialist team from the Product Engineering department at the Honda in the UK and codenamed ‘Project P’, the Civic Type R Pickup Truck has been modified and developed from the standard road car to create one of the fastest pickup trucks on the road.
To create the Project P concept, the team used a pre-production version and adapted the design from the B-pillars back, with sweeping lines from the roofline to the back hiding a flatbed load area.
Finished in Rallye Red, the concept retains the iconic rear wing, which, in a clever piece of engineering is movable to allow direct and unfettered access to the tray.
Using the same powertrain, suspension and gearbox as the standard road car, it’s estimated the lightweight Project P utility will do the dash to 100 km/h in under six seconds and reach a top speed of more than 265km/h.
It also retains the same drive modes as the donor hatch, including +R.
Project P offering both ride comfort as well as a unique racing capability on track. Project lead, Alyn James, said it was a fantastic opportunity for the team to show just what their creative minds could do.
“The passion that our engineers have for Honda is shown in our latest creation and we are even considering taking it to the Nurburgring to see if we can take the record for the fastest front wheel drive pickup truck,” he said.
Sadly, there are no plans to put the concept ute into production, but Honda says it will be using it to transport its lawn and garden products as and when required.
Huh? Take a closer look and you’ll see a couple of Honda lawnmowers peeking out of the back.
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