Honda UK builds Civic Type R “ute”

To retain the body stiffness, a rollbar has been incorporated into the platform, with the bodysides and SRS also altered to suit the new project’s purpose. At the rear, the bottom half of the hatch tailgate has been retained and actually hinges up from just above the tail lights, while the Type R’s rear wing remains in place and also tilts to allow access to the load bed, which is lined in checkerplate.

The overall weight is said to be comparable to the regular Civic Type R hatch, with the ute expected to be able to match the hatch’s 0-100km/h time of under 6.0 seconds and a 265+km/h top speed. Being front-wheel drive, a ute conversion like this is somewhat easier to undertake than it would be on an RWD vehicle, but the project still took eight weeks to bring to fruition. Interestingly, only three weeks of that was spent on the actual chopping and modification, with the first five devoted to research and planning.

“This Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept by the special team at our Swindon-based plant demonstrates the passion and commitment of the team there – going above and beyond outside working hours to deliver the final product,” said Phil Webb, head of car at Honda UK. Project leader, Alyn James, also praised the team, and – we think only half-jokingly – said they may take this unique creation to Germany’s Nurburgring for a crack at the record for a front-wheel drive pickup truck!