Post #107656 by johntiki on Tue, Aug 10, 2004 10:27 PM

Here is the platform for my ultimate tiki wagon...the 1967 Morris Minor Traveler

Of course it would need a bit of work to make it a daily driver...I'm imagining a chassis swap with a later model American car...I'm imagining a Mustang would probably be appropriate. I'd use all the modern suspension (except for aftermarket drop spindles), power steering, disc brakes and the 5.0 V-8...I would love to hear that innocent looking Brit import with a beefy powerplant under the hood!

Now that the car is sound and suitable for highway driving it would need some body modifications...shave the door handles and remove all of the stock trim, hood embellishments, the stock grill and fender mounted mirrors. French the headlights, recess the front turn signals, french the tail lights and last but not least chop the top about 3 inches. Custom size a '54 Desoto "tooth" grill to fit inside the existing gap.

Now it's time to tikify this baby! Replace all the gauges in the dash with custom faces that include tiki style fonts and numbers and backlight them with blue bulbs. Recover all the seats inside with...

Door panels would be covered in a combo of the above mentioned fabric and bacbac matting. Install a lauhala headliner with bamboo stringers. Now I'd replace the courtesy lamps inside with a mini fish float cluster and even a mini pufferfish. In the back the third brakelight would be suspended in the back window - a mini red fish float! The shift knob and all door lock pulls would be carved custom knobs! Finally, I'd cover the floor with matting - something that could withstand daily use.

Exterior - I'd go with a mintier green for the exterior color. Inside the stock woody features on the rear panels I'd affix lauhala matting to fit. On the roof of the rear panel I'd have a ghost tapa job - kinda like a ghost flame (where only visible in certain lights) but with an authentic looking tapa design. Finally, I'd get two custom made dummy spotlights for the front of the car, done to look like hollowed out coconuts but finished in chrome.

To finish it off I'd have to go with a nice set of Torque Thrust 2 wheels...like these...

...and a set of these...

I could go on for hours about the little details...like the custom tiki plaque for the tailgate, the portable tiki bar in the trunk, the customizations inside the engine compartment...blah, blah, blah...

As you can tell, I've put in many hours daydreaming about this! Great topic!