Project Sendpai Is The 550 Horsepower Electric Truck We All Want

Andy Didorosi is one of those esoteric Detroiters that everyone in the Midwest knows, if not personally at least by reputation. He's raced and won in regional rally championships, he's attempting to revive an ancient car factory to build electric pickups, he buys old school buses to help supplement the city's access to public transportation, and he used to be a contributor on this very website. He jumped into the streaming thing a few years ago and recently started posting regular updates to YouTube. Andy is one of those guys that doesn't listen when people tell him his ideas are impossible. He just gets off his ass and makes it happen, even if the going is slow and schedules are basically meaningless. It's good stuff, you should watch it. 

What happens when you buy a 1996 Suzuki Carry kei truck from Japan and stuff the drivetrain components from a wrecked Tesla Model 3 Performance underneath? Only good things, I can assure you. While this project, dubbed "Sendpai", is still in the process of being built, the end goal is a 550-horsepower, 1,800 pound widebody pickup with a single seat in the middle and ridiculous Group B-inspired 3D-printed bodywork. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty sweet to me. I've been to Andy's factory, and it's one of the coolest places, the kind of spot where dreams come true if you have the right stick-to-it attitude. 

That's why we're taking it upon ourselves to highlight some of our favorite underrated builders in a new series we're calling Wrenchers You Should Know. Not only do some of these people deserve way more views than they're getting, but they're typically the Do It Yourselfer type, rather than the big corporate-sponsored four-figure-horsepower slop that's dominating your feeds. In each installment we'll introduce you to a cool new builder, talk about some of their work, and give you a few reasons why you should be watching their progress. Here we go, full send!

Sendpai is one of those pie-in-the-sky builds that regular folks like you or I dream about. Andy is taking it upon himself to work with other creators and fabricators to get this project done, make it fast as all get out, and make it look cool in the process. The project started in earnest last fall, and Andy has made some pretty significant progress in the meantime. What started out as a tiny slow pickup import and a wrecked but drivable fully depreciated Tesla has seen the two combined into a megazord-like contraption that should hopefully run and drive in a very fast manner really soon. The motors and batteries are installed, and the truck now has a track width about two feet as wide as it was before the swap. It's definitely an interesting look. 

While the truck looks more or less like a Suzuki Carry that has only concentrated on leg day for a decade, it's getting a design rework from famed social media designer Abilemec. He and Andy worked together to develop a visual idea for the truck that would catch eyeballs and garner interest in Andy's project. He's using this halo build as a way to both accomplish some R&D for his electric truck company, but also grow his public reach to make sure the truck project succeeds. This bodykit accomplishes both things, because it looks cool as heck. 

The end result of Project Sendpai will definitely be an effortlessly fast and lightweight little thing that probably feels a little wonky considering you're sitting over the top of the front axle. I'll bet it does big smokey all-wheel drive burnouts with ease, though. That Tesla Model 3 Performance drivetrain will provide plenty of power for a sub-2000 pound vehicle to rip around. I'd love an opportunity to drive it when it's finished, Andy, if you're reading this. Let's go!

Five years ago Andy bought an old car factory that had been abandoned for quite some time, and has been using it as a home base for his various operations since. I've been there, it's big and wet and cold most of the time, except for the summer when it's big and wet and hot. When it was abandoned, they also left a ton of stuff behind and Andy is trying to figure out how best to either use or dispose of that stuff. For now the factory provides plenty of room for his projects both past and upcoming, and mostly keeps them protected from the elements. So how's the factory doing after all these years?

Well, it isn't doing so hot. As the owner of a 100-plus-year-old building, I totally get it. This spring brought a ton of rain to the midwest region, and it's causing some pretty gnarly flooding. After a century of various uses, the factory has seen better days, but Andy recently dedicated a few days to trying to solve some of its problems in an economically feasible and reasonably doable way. There's a philosophical thing going on here, in which Andy finally tackles a project he's been putting off for over five years and it feels like it's actually good to make progress on all of this. Stop putting off your projects, I guess? 

If you've ever been afraid of a project because it was too big or too daunting, just call a few of your friends over and get the dang thing done. It's going to be a big pain in the butt, and it's going to take a lot of time, and it's going to make you feel like crap at the end, but it'll be so worth it to see it finished. Now if only I could take some of that advice for myself. 

Back in 2010 when everything looked pretty dire for the city of Detroit, Andy was all-in on his hometown. He was part of a gang of mowers, the Detroit Mower Gang to be precise, to help rehabilitate city parks in the absence of city-funded clean up efforts. The goal was to keep green spaces open and welcome for the people who didn't abandon the city in its darkest times. While cleaning up the Dorais Velodrome bicycle park, the crew uncovered and began rehabbing the dilapidated concrete bicycle circle track. Once all of the overgrowth and dumped tires had been removed from the park, they decided to put the track to a new use. 

As Ben Wojdyla described the park back in 2010, it wasn't "fit for high-speed bicycle racing anymore because of some pretty gnarly crevices," but it was "the perfect spot for some quasi-legal motorcycle racing." Thunderdrome became an annual event for Detroit moped crews and small-bore cafe racers to put their bikes to the test in the crucible of motorsport. The event didn't last long, but it sure looked cool as heck while it lasted. It's better to burn out than to fade away. My my, hey hey. 

If you have suggestions for some lesser known builders on social media, please feel free to drop them in the comments section as well. I'm always on the lookout for folks out there doing cool stuff. It doesn't have to be just cars, either. While I'm well apprised of the car and motorcycles building scenes, I'd love to get deep into the nitty gritty of some more niche topics. Do you follow some cool folks building snowmobiles, jet skis, or DIY fighter jets or something? I want to know about it.

And yes, you're welcome to do some self promotion in the comments as well. Let everyone know where they can follow your build and what you're up to. If it's unique or good, we'll feature it on the blogs.