The Weird World of Wheels: Crazy Custom Cars

Andy Saunders spent six weeks converting this Hyundai i10 into an ice cream van.

14 March 2008

Welcome to The Weird World of Wheels, our weekly round-up of the strangest car-related news from around the world.

This week the subject is the incredible custom car creations of design genius Andy Saunders.

Poole-based custom car creator Andy Saunders has created some of the world's most eye-catching custom cars.

Since picking up the hammer at 15 the Poole-based designer has garnered hundreds of column inches across the globe and picked up a Guinness World Record...

Hyundai i10 Ice Cream Van

Andy created this confectionary-filled version of Hyundai's new i10 city car (above right) - dubbed 'Chilly' - in just six weeks.

The original motor was delivered to his workshop in January, and by the end of February the car was transformed into an ice cream-vending marvel - just in time for Hyundai's press launch of the car.

Picasso's Citroen

Saunders spent six months creating this modernist car from the bare bones of his old Citroen 2CV.

Inspired by cubist painter Pablo Picasso, the road-legal car was first seen by the public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2007.

Andy said: "I decided to blur the line between car design and art by using Picasso as inspiration. I studied Picasso and noticed that he used mainly primary colours and I've stuck with that for the car.

"It hasn't lost any of its speed - it can still reach 65mph."

Flat Out

The Flat Out was the car which took back the title of 'World's Lowest Car', originally held by Andy's 1985 creation - Claustrophobia.

The ultra-low sportscar is just under 22 inches tall, and took Andy and his team just three days to build. The car was built for the 40th Annual Autojumble at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire.

"I hadn�t had the record for a while and thought it would be fun to get it back. Turning the whole build into a bit of automotive theatre seemed like a great idea. With everybody loving the raft of auto-makeover shows like �Pimp My Ride� and American Chopper� we felt that the team should do it live to an audience over a weekend. With some 33,000-odd people coming to have a look at the build. I guess that was the right decision!"

Lancia Stratos Zero

Andy's Lancia Stratos Zero replica stole the show when it was displayed at a gallery in London's Brick Lane.

Short Mini

The most beautiful small car world?

Andy took his hammer and cutting and welding tools to a design classic, and ended up with this - the Short Mini. The tiny-car-made-tinier is currently on display on the Isle of Skye...