Automotive

Honda Type-R pickup truck will scorch track and road – carrying a bed full of cargo

Honda Type-R pickup truck will scorch track and road – carrying a bed full of cargo
Party up front, party in the back
Party up front, party in the back
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Party up front, party in the back
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Party up front, party in the back
Honda is well known for its car-based pickup truck design, but this is a different beast
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Honda is well known for its car-based pickup truck design, but this is a different beast
Honda presents the Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept
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Honda presents the Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept
Honda's team pulled the rear seats out and stuck in a pickup bed and roll cage
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Honda's team pulled the rear seats out and stuck in a pickup bed and roll cage
The trunk door-like tailgate pops up for bed access
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The trunk door-like tailgate pops up for bed access
View gallery - 5 images

The Honda Civic Type R is already one of the most visually arresting cars on the auto show circuit, and now it's also one of the most visually arresting ... pickup trucks. Designed by the engineers at the Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) plant in Swindon, the little Type R pickup has the attitude of Honda's most aggressive Civic with the utility of a (tiny) pickup truck. It won't be the most productive truck at the construction site, but what it lacks in full-size pickup payload, it makes up for in get up and go.

Apparently just giving a Ridgeline the Type R treatment would have been too mundane for the folks at Honda. Instead, a specialist team within the HUM's Product Engineering department took on a mad science experiment nearly as bizarrely awesome as the Nissan Juke R.

The Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept – or Project P, as it's known internally – started life as a basic pre-production Civic Type R before Honda's team of car surgeons peeled away the upper bodywork from the B-pillars back. They pulled out the rear seats and trunk trim, dropping in a diamond-plated utility bed and roll cage with auxiliary lights.

Honda's team pulled the rear seats out and stuck in a pickup bed and roll cage
Honda's team pulled the rear seats out and stuck in a pickup bed and roll cage

Of course, the team had to keep the Type R's signature wing intact, so instead of pulling it off to slot the tailgate in, they worked around it, putting the tailgate below. Instead of dropping down like a regular pickup tailgate, this one swings upward, wing and all.

To finish things off, the team slapped an eye-popping shade of Rallye Red on to give its pickup creation the look of unfettered speed.

The trunk door-like tailgate pops up for bed access
The trunk door-like tailgate pops up for bed access

Honda believes the Type R Pickup could very well be among the fastest pickups on UK roads and estimates a 165 mph (266 km/h) top speed and sub-6-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time. Those figures are quite near the stock Civic Type R's numbers, and the truck variant uses the same 320-hp 2.0-liter VTEC turbo and six-speed manual transmission. Also untouched are the suspension and driving mode trio of Comfort, Sport and +R.

"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," says Alyn James, project lead.

We probably don't need to say it, but you can pretty much forget about a production version of this fast but marginally useful pickup car. Phil Webb, Honda UK head of car, has already confirmed that there are no production plans for the special project.

Source: Honda UK

View gallery - 5 images
4 comments
4 comments
guzmanchinky
I guess I'm too old to get it.
zr2s10
I love trucks, but I don't know about this one. I will say, I like it better than the Ridgeline, lol. But seriously, this looks like something a hillbilly who loves Hondas made in his garage. No special bodywork or back window, it was literally just; cut crap out, cover the gaps in diamond plate. Even the tailgate was just, "eh, leave the trunk in place, that'll do."
Lsaguy
My Subaru Brat was one of the best cars I ever owned. It carried me and my hang gliding gear all over the Cascade Mountains, hauled wood for the four years we lived with only wood heat, and made my fastest run from Seattle to Wichita, KS in 31 hours non-stop, half of it in near blizzard conditions when I saw three other cars all night. What does this have to do with the Type R pickup? Only that I would have one in a minute if Honda brought it to the states. It is just too cool.
Gizmowiz
El Camino spin off with zero practicality. Avalanche beats it hands down.