Auto Enthusiast Uses Suzuki Swift to Build Real-Life Little Tikes Cozy Coupe That Can Shoot Flames

Auto enthusiast Nathan Paykin purchased a 2006 Suzuki Swift for the bargain price of AU$500 (approximately US$350) and converted it into a full-size replica of the vintage Little Tikes Cozy Coupe toy vehicle that many children most likely played with. This classic red-and-yellow Cozy Coupe now appears as a real-life car that adults can drive, complete with flames.

Paykin began with what was essentially a low-end hatchback before performing a major overhaul on it. He sliced the car in half, removed the back doors and a large part from the center, and then welded the two halves back together. As a result, the thing is now shorter and fatter than a Smart Fortwo, has lost a few inches from the back end, and is essentially an extreme version of the conventional proportions, to the point where the front end scrapes the ground when you brake hard.

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Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

• Made in the USA. The Little Tikes Company is located in the heartland of America.
• GROWS AS KIDS DO. The removable floorboard makes this ride-on transition easily between parent-controlled and kid-powered modes
• KIDS TAKE THE WHEEL. Take the removable floorboard out and kids can roll themselves around using their feet

The exterior resembles a Cozy Coupe toy car with none of the sacrifice. The majority of the automobile is bright, fire engine red, with yellow trim in strategic locations. Steel wheels coated white look exactly like the plastic ones on the old toy. The textured bodywork / paint job gives it an interesting molded-plastic finish appearance. The exhaust now exits the side, and Paykin built a unique flamethrower arrangement that fires real flames on demand.

Inside, there’s just enough room for two people to squeeze in, and nothing else fits elsewhere. He’s removed the inside storage area in order to keep the device as compact as feasible. Paykin refers to this monstrosity as the ‘Suzuki Sui,’ a reference to the large hole in the middle that defines it.

Handling the thing is as crazy as it seems, because the very short wheelbase allows it to flip its back wheels off the ground every time you brake, resulting in what they call ‘stoppies’. You must rely on the front end dragging along the road to keep the back end from washing out. Not the most balanced everyday driver you’ll ever see, but it moves on its own and provides the pleasure of being fully at the mercy of the road.

This vehicle took a while to build because it required hacksawing, grinding, welding, filling in holes in the body, and painting. Paykin considers himself a certified butcher, given how he disassembled and reassembled that Swift. Reviving childhood memories with an automobile that roars and spits fire instead of trundling silently down the driveway is just the icing on top.
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