5 dad-built custom toy projects

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Raising a child to be respectful, obedient, quiet, and well-mannered is challenging. And also boring. Who wants a dad like that?

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The best part of being a dad is being a co-conspirator with your kids. Can we build it? Yes we can! Don’t tell mom! Well, at least not until it’s a fait accompli , and it’s too late.

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5 dad-built custom toy projects Back to video

Here’s a father’s day look across the internet at a few fathers who decided to take matters into their own hands. Drive your Cozy Coupe over here, and pass me the drill.

Mad Max Cozy Coupes

Every kid loves a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe at some point. They’re practically a staple of early childhood, the car you get before you’ve learned to ride your first bike. The toontown proportions and big smiling face make the Coupe just a friendly teddy bear of a thing. Not these ones though.

Built by Ian Pfaff of Glendale California, these two heavily modified toy cars look like they just survived an apocalypse in the Australian outback. Pfaff is both a huge fan of Mad Max, and works in the movie industry. He went to town repurposing everything from old computer parts and stoves in the process of building two Cozy Coupes worthy of taking on Immortan Joe and his War Boys.

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Motorized Cozy Coupe

Cosmetic upgrades to Cozy Coupes are not uncommon, and dads who are movie fans turn them into everything from Back To The Future Time Machines to tiny Ectomobiles. But these don’t really address the main complaint kids have with the ol’ CC as they grow up. The steering doesn’t work, and you have to propel yourself, Fred Flintstone style.

That wouldn’t do for Taylor Calmus, a Colorado-based dad with an active YouTube channel called Dude Dad. Seeing that his daughter and her Coupe were being left in the dust by her brother’s Power Wheels, he headed to the garage with a box of parts and a plan.

Reinforced, lifted on chunky tires, and fitted with working steering and dual-electric motor drive, this souped up Cozy Coupe now flies. It’s actually faster than the Power Wheels because it has a better power-to-weight ratio, and Calmus fitted big rear pipes for colourful smoke shows.

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Radio Flyer Ultimate Go-Kart Upgrades

As noted in our review, the Ultimate Go-Kart really doesn’t need much in the way of improvements . Maybe a faster charger. However, dad Ramsey Gill wasn’t satisfied with just leaving things stock .

First, he installed an LED lightbar, the better for evening driving sessions. Then he addressed a serious shortcoming of the Go-Kart: its lack of a battery life indicator. With some cuts to the bodywork, the little electric kart now had a fuel gauge.

Working taillights were added too, but the biggest upgrade was tackling the battery back. Gill put together a homebuilt multi-cell lithium-ion pack, one that took power levels from 9Ah to 15Ah, all without gaining weight. Given that the Ultimate Go-Kart has such a strong frame, it’ll be interesting to watch how the home DIY crowd keeps coming up with upgrades.

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Low-Rider Radio Flyer

Dads love taking their kids to car shows. The problem is that little legs tire out before you get to see everything, and besides which, just listening to dad talk about V8 swaps with another dad can put Junior to sleep.

Happily, there’s a solution that’s been around for decades: the little red Radio Flyer wagon. However, if you’re a father who is also a fabricator, there’s no way you’re leaving that thing stock.

Low-rider Radio Flyers are as plentiful and varied as actual hot rods, and everyone’s got a slightly different take on the idea. One example, from the Youtube channel What’s My Project, is still plenty comfy looking, with patina, wood sides, and a mexican-blanket-style interior treatment. It’s just a little wagon, but there’s plenty of space for creativity.

Working Wooden Lamborghini Sian

Lastly, there are the dads who modify, and the dads who build from the ground up. For the latter, here’s Truong Van Dao, a hobbyist woodworker from Vietnam, and his incredibly accurate Lamborghini Sian.

And yes, it all works. Thanks to an electric motor, car battery, and bicycle chain drive, this pint-sized Sian is a fully functioning machine. It took 65 days to build, and thanks to relaxed Vietnamese road rules, Dao has actually driven it out on the street with his son.