Incredibly sophisticated home-built off-roader. 100% street legal. Powertrain and management systems from a Chevy Cobalt, fabricated chassis, fully independent suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes. Seriously fast, incredibly fun, totally unique.

Have you ever wanted to build your own car? One ultra-talented individual decided he could create something unique and this is the result. We have it listed as a 2021 Chevrolet, since we needed to identify it somehow, but it’s actually titled as a 2021 Home-built, which is exactly what it is. But this is no back yard hack job. No, the guy who built this car is an engineer and an artist in equal measure, and one look at the welds on this thing will convince you that he really knew what he was doing. He started with a 2012 Chevy Cobalt front cradle, including engine, transmission, suspension, and brakes, and moved it to a mid-engine configuration. A custom front suspension uses custom A-arms and coil-overs, as well as power rack-and-pinion steering so it’s effortless to drive. The exposed tube frame is both the bodywork and the structure for the car and it’s incredibly rigid so the thing feels indestructible going down the road. It’s gloss black powdercoated so it’ll be durable and look this good practically forever. You also get headlights that work like the original Cobalt headlights with DRLs, as well as a bank of LED auxiliary lighting that lights up the road in front of you like a stadium. There’s also an electric winch, just in case, and LED taillights out back. The custom windshield features an electric wiper and there’s a bikini top to keep the sun off when you’re out having fun.

We can’t really call the driver’s compartment the “interior” since it’s out in the open, but it’s very nicely finished and surprisingly comfortable. The operating hardware like the steering column, pedals, shifter, and gauge cluster all come from the donor Cobalt, so they’re all OEM-grade and work like they should. Custom two-tone bucket seats feature 4-point harnesses to hold you in place and little wind wings on the windshield frame do a surprisingly good job of controlling wind when you’re at speed. There’s also a reasonably powerful stereo system, although we’ll admit that we’d never use it—this thing is just too much fun to worry about music. The gauges work like they should, with a control function button to cycle through the menu items and even the digital thermometer works! Additional buttons for the lighting and winch are easy to reach and there’s even an auxiliary power outlet for your phone. He was really sweating the details when he built this cool dune buggy.

Power comes from GM’s reliable and torquey Ecotec 2.2 liter DOHC inline-4 and with a flyweight chassis to haul around, performance is shocking. It’s stock aside from a custom air intake and exhaust system with Flowmaster muffler, so it should run practically forever now that it’s so under-stressed. A giant aluminum radiator with dual fans is mounted behind the passenger compartment and works no matter what you’re doing, on-road or off and it integrates a transmission cooler for the 4-speed automatic gearbox. It shifts cleanly and with a tall overdrive, this thing even cruises nicely on the highway. It tracks straight and ride quality is pretty good considering its off-road capabilities. Braking is powerful thanks to 4-wheel discs and 14-inch aluminum wheels are outfitted with 27x8.50R14 off-road radials that do the job right.

If you’ve looked at a Rzr off-roader or one of those kits to build your own dune buggy, take a closer look at this immaculately built little machine. From an engineering standpoint, it’s simply beautiful and it just works like it should. Given the amount of work that went into the build, it should cost tens of thousands more than it does, but its affordable price tag reflects reality—this is a cool toy. If that’s your kind of insane fun, give us a call today!

This vehicle is titled as a 2021 Homebuilt.

Harwood Motors always recommends and welcomes personal or professional inspections of any vehicle in our inventory prior to purchase.