Honda engineers build a Civic Type R pickup truck, just for fun

By Stephen Edelstein May 24, 2018

1 of 5

Honda Civic Type R pickup truck

Honda Civic Type R pickup truck

Honda Civic Type R pickup truck

Honda Civic Type R pickup truck

Honda Civic Type R pickup truck

The Honda Civic Type R is already a fairly practical five-door hatchback, but that apparently wasn’t good enough for a group of U.K. Honda engineers who gave a Type R the full El Camino treatment, turning it into a pickup truck named “Project P.”

Up front, Project P looks like a standard Civic Type R. But the roof aft of the front doors was removed to make way for the pickup bed. The stock rear spoiler was retained but modified so it could swing out of the way to allow easier loading and unloading of the bed. Honda’s engineers clearly thought of everything.

The pickup truck uses the same engine, transmission, and suspension as a stock Civic Type R, according to Honda. That means a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Drive is to the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. Honda claims Project P will do 0 to 62 mph in under six seconds, and reach a top speed of over 165 mph. The Type R El Camino also retains the stock drive modes of Comfort, Sport, and +R.

Project P was built by a team of engineers at the Honda of the U.K. Manufacturing factory in Swindon, England. The factory builds all Civic hatchbacks sold in Europe and North America, including the Type R. Don’t expect Honda to put a Civic pickup into production though; Project P was just a fun side project.

“We have a special projects division at the factory in Swindon and this project was a fantastic opportunity for the team to show just what their creative minds could do,” Alyn James, Project P team leader, said in a statement. “The passion that our engineers have for Honda is shown in our latest creation and we are even considering taking it to the Nürburgring to see if we can take the record for the fastest front-wheel drive pickup truck!”

In the auto industry, it seems that everything is cooler with a pickup bed. Engineers at BMW and Nissan have built one-off pickup versions of the M3 and Leaf, respectively, and Photoshop renderings giving other models the El Camino treatment appear regularly online. Which car do you think will be next?

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2018 Honda Civic

The Honda Civic Type R nabs the Digital Trends Best Car of 2017 award

2018 Honda Civic

Customers looking for smaller sedans continue to vote with their dollars for the Honda Civic in 2017, just as they did in 2016. Last year, with 366,927 sales, the Civic was the third best-selling car in America after Toyota's mid-size Camry and Corolla compact. This year's Civic sales numbers through September 2017 are tracking a bit ahead but still within one percent of the 2016 figures.

The current 10th-generation Honda Civic launched with the 2016 model year. Civic generations typically last five years, so don't expect another next dramatic change before 2021. The 2018 Civics are unchanged in all respects since 2017 to the point that press images supplied for 2018 models often depicted 2017 and even 2016 cars.

Cars

You can now buy the Honda Civic Type R turbocharged four as a crate motor

Honda Civic Type R feature

Honda is an automaker with a huge enthusiast following -- just look at the sales figures for the Accord -- and the prominent Japanese company continually acknowledges that. This recognition is how the world sees fun cars like the Civic Type R, the Civic Si, and the late S2000.

For years, American Honda lovers and owners have been looking across the oceans in envy of Europe’s and Japan’s coveted Type R models because none of them have been sold here anytime recently. That all changed thanks to the introduction of today’s Civic Type R. With the U.S. finally having access to one of Honda’s most formidable sports cars, that makes the 2018 Civic Type R the first-ever Type R model since the Acura Integra Type R from 16 years ago, when the last Integra Type R sold here as a 2001 model.

Cars

The Miimo Type R smart lawnmower takes after the hottest version of the Civic

Honda Miimo Type R Fireblade Civic

Put aside your jokes about Honda's cars sounding like lawnmowers. Never mind that you can find mowers bearing the iconic "H" logo in any home supply store, and that you might have grown up smelling the fumes of your dad's two-stroke Honda grass chewer. The manufacturer has stepped up its landscaping game with Honda Power Equipment's adorable Miimo, a smart electric mower/robot. And now Miimo has a performance variant that takes after the hottest hatchback in the Honda lineup: the Civic Type R.

Honda UK Power unveiled its prototype Miimo Type R to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Honda's performance arm, which released its first model in the form of the NSX Type R in 1992. That same year, Big Red brought out its 1,000cc Fireblade motorcycle, known stateside as the CBR1000RR. And now a lawnmower is joining the storied lineup.