Honda Civic Type-R Project P - Pickup your Jaw
The Honda Civic Type R Project P is a one-off pickup truck concept built by engineers at Honda's Swindon factory in the UK, converting a standard Civic Type R hatchback into the world's fastest front-wheel-drive pickup truck. With a 2.0-litre turbocharged VTEC engine producing 316 bhp, a top speed exceeding 165 mph (266 km/h), and 0 to 62 mph in under six seconds, Project P proves that a pickup truck does not have to sacrifice performance to carry a payload.
Why Did Honda Build a Civic Type R Pickup Truck?
Project P was created by a team of 12 engineers from Honda UK's Product Engineering department, not as a production proposal but as an exercise in ingenuity and passion. The Civic Type R was already one of the fastest front-wheel-drive hot hatches ever built, holding the production FWD lap record at the Nurburgring. Converting it into a pickup while preserving its performance credentials was the kind of engineering challenge that Honda's Swindon team found irresistible.
The concept vehicle went on to compete for the title of fastest front-wheel-drive pickup truck at the Nurburgring, a claim that no production pickup truck could realistically challenge. It represents everything Honda's engineers are known for: practical creativity applied to an absurd premise with completely serious results.
How Honda Built the Project P: Engineering a Type R Pickup
The build process started with a production Civic Type R hatchback. The team removed all bodywork from the B-pillar rearward, including the rear seats and boot trim. In place of the passenger compartment, they fabricated a utility flatbed covered in diamond-plate steel, giving the vehicle genuine pickup truck functionality.
Two auxiliary driving lights were mounted on the roof to reinforce the truck aesthetic. The iconic Civic Type R rear wing was retained by relocating it to the tailgate, which opens upward to provide access to the load area. The result is a vehicle that looks unmistakably like a Type R from the front and a proper working pickup from behind. Honda also preserved all three driving modes from the standard car: Comfort, Sport, and the full-attack plus R mode.
Honda Civic Type R Project P Performance: What the Numbers Say
Project P carries over the complete powertrain from the FK8-generation Civic Type R: a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 316 bhp and 400 Nm of torque, paired with a six-speed manual transmission. The front-wheel-drive layout sends all that power to the front axle, just as the standard Type R does on road and track.
Honda estimates a 0 to 62 mph time of under six seconds and a top speed of over 165 mph (266 km/h). For a pickup truck, those numbers are genuinely extraordinary. For context, the Nurburgring front-wheel-drive lap record held by the Type R hatchback sits comfortably ahead of any production pickup truck ever built. Project P is a concept, and Honda has no plans for production, but it demonstrates the performance ceiling of the Type R platform beyond the bounds of the hatchback body. Motor1 covered the reveal in detail: Honda Project P is a 165-mph Civic Type R Pickup. Auto Express also published a full breakdown: Honda Civic Type R Pickup Truck Concept revealed.
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