Qu Zhibo, a chef from Zigong City, China’s Sichuan Province, spent three years and just 4,000 yuan ($628) building his own knockoff Jeep. His efforts have made him somewhat of an Internet celebrity, in China.

I was convinced Chinese car enthusiasts can be very resourceful when it comes to building their own dream cars after seeing photos of a young man working on his home-made Lamborghini, so Qu Zhibo’s achievement just comes as a confirmation. Because he was busy running his own restaurant, Qu Zhibo took three years to complete work on his 2-meters-long, 1.5-meters-high Jeep, but he did use just 600 bucks to do it. The car, which many Chinese netizens called a “knockoff Hummer” was actually inspired by an American military vehicle, and even though right now it pretty much looks like a pile of junk on wheels, a bit of camouflage paint could go a long way.

A military fan, Qu admits he worked days and nights hand-crafting and designing the parts for his unique vehicle, and admit at one point he became obsessed with it. Exept for the engine, steering wheel, tires and gas tank, the ambitious chef made all the parts himself, which explains the low price tag. While it doesn’t really compare with modern automobiles on the market today, in terms of design, comfort and performance, it drives the same way, the only big difference being you have to start it somewhere at the back, before jumping in the driver’s seat, as it’s powered by a motorcycle engine.

The homemade Jeep reaches a top speed of 30 km/h, and even though it’s not road legal, Qu Zhibo and his friends have a lot of fun driving it around his restaurant.

via ChinaHush