This is the very brief story of how I built a Martian 'show car' for tooling around the surface of Mars - or the Moon - from a Dodge Deora and a few odds-and-ends from a George Barris Moonscope and a Dodge Ram 50 pickup truck.

First, you need one of these Dodge Deora kits from AMT/Ertl. Although they were re-issued in 2002 (I think), they are still fairly easy to find as of this writing. I started by removing 3/4 of an inch from the Deora's pickup bed between the wheel wells and the engine cover. The mid-engine layout of the Deora really enhances its utility as an extra-Earth exploration vehicle. Next, remove the roof and the A-pillars to leave only the frame around the rear window. I think the shorter wheel-base gives the vehicle a more aggressive stance. The flares on the wheel wells came from the Dodge Ram 50 so you can reduce the dust spray into the cab and box. You'll need to do some rather extensive grinding, filling and shaping to get the wheel-wells to conform to the shape of the flares.

That's it for major body work, but you'll need to completely rebuild the underside since this baby won't be powered by the Deora's standard slant-six internal combustion engine. It probably will use some sort of fuel cell. Here's the new frame, chassis and engine. It's built from a wide variety of miscellania from my spares boxes. The axles and drivetrain all need to be boosted to get those giant tires from the Moonscope into the wheel wells - all this work took me about a week at my usual plodding pace. Imagine blowing a flat somewhere in the Martian desert and having to drive home on that puny spare after you have wrestled one those giant barrel tires off!

To get in and drive you need to lower the front door and climb in. It's a single-seater because these Apollo-era moon-suits take up a lot of space. Newer 21th century Mars suits will probably be slimmer, making it possible to carry a passenger. The steering wheel is mounted on a swing-arm. You need to swing it out and out of the way, then climb in and swing it back into the driving position. On your left is a combination gear-shift and accelerator for making the car move forward and back at various speeds. The box holds a fair amount of cargo. You can get your ATV inside along with your tools, shovel and golf club so don't forget to pack extra golf balls. The ATV has also had its engine modified for the airless conditions of Mars or the Moon. The Deora is a great kit with lots of possibilities. It comes with a camper top for the box so it is certainly possible to build a pressurized camper version for those long rock-hunting trips in the Martian desert.

Image: "Do you see my keys?"

Image: Top view

Image: The undercarriage

Image: Starting point