But here it is, out on the roads. Well, out on the driveway, at least. Which doesn't make the XR3 any less confusing, in honesty.

See, it's a diesel-electric hybrid that'll do 40 miles on battery power alone, 125mpg running on diesel and 225 in full hybrid mode.

At least, it will if that's what you want. Alternatively, you can have it as a diesel-only vehicle. Or a battery-only vehicle. Or you could have it a bit bigger. Or a bit smaller. Confused yet?

Thing is, when you 'buy' an XR3, you don't get anything apart from a set of plans - both paper and on CD. No engine, no wheels, no bodywork. It's up to you to actually source the materials, cut them to size and make the thing.

Riley says this could anything between $10,000 and $25,000 - varying, presumably, on how succesfully you barter down the local hardware store.

Robert Q Riley, the man behind the XR3, says it can be constructed by anyone with 'common building skills'. We're pretty sure we could make a decent hash-up of it, though.