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eBay Find of the Day: Harley-Davidson powered Toyota Prius [w/video]

Sometimes we pluck cars from the listings of eBay Motors because they're old and interesting, some for being simply lovely, some for rarity and some for pure fun. And sometimes we pick eBay Finds of the Day, because they're hacked apart Toyota Prius' with Harley Davidson V-twin-power; concocted by the same mind that brought you innumerable Jalopnik articles and is partially responsible for the joy that is the 24 Hours of LeMons. This time it's that last one.
A fairly subtle tweet from long-time Jalop contributor and well-regarded grease monkey, Murilee Martin, hipped us to this crazy Frankenstein Prius. Built from the bones of a 2008 Toyota and the heart of a 1986 Harley-Davidson Sportster 883, the motive portmanteau is, well... it's a thing.
Toyota's advanced Hybrid Synergy Drive has been unceremoniously wrenched and snipped out of the engine bay, making room (via an artful hole in the hood) for the towering, bored out V-twin. Or, as the maestro himself puts it:

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #317 LIVE!

We record Autoblog Podcast #317 tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments regarding the rest of the week's news via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #317
Mitsubishi Mirage

Toyota FT-1 hints at Supra, more aggressive hybrids

Toyota showed off the new FT-1 performance concept at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show today, and the obvious story angle is that this is the new Supra. That's enough weight for most concept cars to carry, but then we thought about it a bit more - FT-1 stands for "Future Toyota 1," after all - and re-read the hints Toyota is dropping about how the FT-1 fits into the company's future. Put all the pieces together, and we think there's a chance Toyota's hybrid models are about to get a whole lot cooler. Technically, the FT-1 is an EV, but that's just because all it has for a powetrain is a small battery and motor to move it around on stage. This concept doesn't even have a proposed powertrain, but a production Supra could have any number of powerplants under the hood (V6, V8, hybrid and inline-six are all mentioned by Automotive News). We also like the big red start button on the steering wheel, which owes at least a little to the blue start button in the Prius. What we're more interested here is what this sleek red beast could do for the look of Toyota's hybrids. The FT-1 could change how Toyota designs cars in the future. To make the FT-1, Akio Toyoda, the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, apparently challenged Toyota's Calty Design Research team to create a car with passion and "a palpable heart-pounding sense of excitement." Instead of making design decisions "by consensus among a large group of stakeholders," the company says "the [design] approval process has been streamlined. This new approach aims to produce cars that connect more deeply with customers." There was a sense in Detroit today that the FT-1 heralds a change in how the company designs cars in the future. The FT-1 is apparently not the result of Toyota's hybrid supercar partnership with BMW, but we know that Toyota isn't a total stranger to a high-performance hybrid category, having built the TS030 hybrid Le Mans race car. For an on-road gas-electric from the company, though, we're much more used to the egg-shaped Prius. While Toyota has backed off a 2003 pledge to make every model a hybrid, it has said that it wants gas-electrics powertrains to proliferate throughout the line-up. And, if the FT-1 previews a new Toyota look, then at least some of those hybrids will benefit from some of the good looks on display in Detroit.