In my sophmore year I came to Penn State University and changed my major to Mechanical Engineering. In my ED&G100 class we were required as groups to make a small car that met various speed and load requirements. While everyone else made their car from a board and various parts, I suggested to my group that we mod a barbie car. Not only would it save on expense but it would also look really cool. We had to remove all non-essential plastic to meet the weight requirements and make adjustments for the axle, motor, etc.. In the end, it worked really well. And while other cars broke on impact (when accidentally colliding with a wall) our plastic was quite resilient. The professor said no other group had ever had the idea before in all the previous years.

Below are some photos of the car, taken with a camera phone so please excuse the horrible quality. Photos are compliments of my group member Dan.

Here you can see the whole car.

In this photo you can make out the circuit board for the car, which was mostly done by my group member Ishtiok.

Here you can see the motor and axle mod.

This is a photo of the back of the car, with the battery cases in the barbie seats.