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This Bugatti Chiron - GAZ-21 Cross Is Quite an Interesting Homemade Frankenvehicle

The world wide web is filled with incredibly awesome things. You get plenty of un-awesome stuff as well, but this is meant to be a fun, uplifting story, so we’ll just ignore them for a while. Dashing Axe is here to command your attention.
Team sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford Probe 25 photos
Photo: YouTube / Dashing Axe
Team sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford ProbeTeam sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ-21 onto a Ford Probe
Dashing Axe is a small workshop in Russia and a small, though not new, YouTube channel. They do mostly handicraft, furniture and art pieces of wood, metal and epoxy, but they also occasionally delve into wheeled stuff, either with or without an engine. Their most recent and famous pieces are a transparent bicycle (also of epoxy) and the frankenvehicle mentioned in the headline, which is a cross between a Bugatti Chiron and a GAZ-21 sedan. The mere association of the two could make one think this is an abomination, but do give it a chance before making up your mind.

If you can’t afford a Bugatti, build it yourself. This isn’t a real saying, but for a certain group of fabricators, it could be. We’ve already seen several notable homemade Bugattis, particularly those coming from the guys who run the NHET TV channel on the video sharing platform. Along the years, we’ve also seen some very interesting combinations of vehicles from another team of Russian gearheads, Garage 54.

Dashing Axe positions itself at the intersection of these two. Their creation isn’t as much as an actual working vehicle, since it’s neither complete nor does it seem able to run under its own power, but the amount of work and attention of detail that went into making it still makes it a standout. Its realization might not be impressive or, at least, not at this stage in the project; but it holds the promise of turning into a stunner.

Team sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ\-21 onto a Ford Probe
Photo: YouTube / Dashing Axe
The team describes it as “our crazy project,” which aims to “intercross USSR and French car industry, specifically old retro car with new Bugatti Chiron.” So far, they’ve uploaded three videos of the process, and they hint that more is to come, by saying that “time will show how it goes.” You can see all three at the bottom of the page, if you have some 45 minutes to spare.

The frankenvehicle was created by using the front end of a GAZ M-21 Volga, and the chassis and engine from a 1992 Ford Probe. Unlike the other two world-famous fabricators (of weird things), Dashing Axe doesn’t offer the full story with the video content, which is perhaps the only bad thing about the experience of viewing it. There’s no timeline offered for the project, no budget mentioned and, perhaps even more importantly, no explanation. We’ll chalk these up to the language barrier, and assume that this is basically an artistic flex.

Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) produced the Volga between 1969 and 1962, and it was a fully-fledged Soviet Union vehicle. No word then on why the project is described as French retro-inspired. The one used for the project seems to have been rescued from a scrapyard, but it did the job since only the front end was retrieved from it.

The chassis and engine came from a Probe, which was produced between 1988 and 1997 in partnership with Mazda, and used the FWD Mazda G platform from the Mazda Capella, with the 2.2-liter SOHC 12-valve 4-cylinder engine. This one doesn’t seem to be working, since in all three videos, the car only moves by being rolled. This, again, seems to suggest that the project aims to show off the team’s fabricator skills and not actually lead to the creation of a functional car.

Team sets out to build a strange frankenvehicle, crafting a Bugatti Chiron and GAZ\-21 onto a Ford Probe
Photo: YouTube / Dashing Axe
Once the front end is grafted onto the (rusty) Probe, the guys set off to work on the Bugatti Chiron rear. After two separate sets of molds and many hours of gluing and polishing and sanding, a single fiberglass piece is built and transported to the garage where the rest of the car is. The Probe is gutted completely, with the interior stripped and the roof, pillars and a chunk of its rear cut removed. Then, a tubular custom frame is built, onto which the Bugatti rear is attached. The doors are also made of fiberglass, using the old Volga doors as mold.

When the frankenvehicle is rolled out for its big unveiling and photo-op, you can’t but feel a tang of disappointment: the interior is still bare, there are no windows, and the paintjob is sloppy in places. Still, getting to that feeling of disappointment is quite a ride, so here’s to hoping part 3 isn’t the last one in this series.

Enjoy!

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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