A salesman whose partner would not stop asking him for lifts to work has found the perfect solution to stop her – by turning her car into a DOG.
Sam Wellman, 25, transformed his girlfriend’s Seat Leon into a pooch so she would be too embarrassed to ask him to drive her to work in it.
He originally bought the car for his girlfriend Corall Willson to use so that she could drive into work without relying on him.
But the plan backfired after she kept asking him to use the car to drop her off at work on his way to his own job.
He told her that her that he was going into the garage for a makeover but she was left stunned when it morphed into a furry, brown dog.
The car had been completely coated in shaggy brown fur and two floppy dog ears were attached behind each front door.
The rear wheels were hidden by fur-clad wheel covers shaped to look like the hind legs of a dog and a speaker system with barking sounds was installed.
And finally an adorable dog nose was attached to the front bonnet with a cheeky tongue hanging out, as well as a waggly tail sticking out over the roof.
Since the transformation, 24-year-old Corall, who works in recruitment, has refused to be seen dead inside the car.
But that hasn’t stopped Sam, originally from Essex, enjoying the perks of having a paw-some ride.
Sam explained: “She was a named driver when I bought her the car. I was hoping she’d use it to get to work because she works in Leeds city centre.
“But she started asking me to take her in it on my way to work – I think it was to save money on parking.
“So in the end it got to the point where I was trying to think of polite ways to say no, and this is what I came up with.
“I persuaded her to go on the E4 programme Carjackers with her car by telling her we would be getting it pimped out.
“She thought it was going to be like a ‘Pimp my Ride’ type of deal with new speakers and bling.
“She actually really got her hopes up.
“Then on the show when the car came out after they had finished with it it just looked like a cute little dog.
“She won’t be seen dead in it now.”
The car gets a lot of attention wherever it goes and Sam, who lives in Leeds, West Yorks., said everyone who sees the car falls in love with it.
Sam said: “For Christmas I’m going to turn it into a reindeer and attach antlers to the side to make it a bit more festive.
“The only bad reactions I get are people laughing at it really. As the weather gets worse it does look a bit like a wet handkerchief.
“There’s no way I’d sell it now. I really love it.
“I didn’t think I’d every get so attached to a car to be honest with you. I think it’s because of all the reactions I get to it. Everyone just loves it.
“I’ve called it Leona because it used to be a Seat Leon.”
Sam explained his plan worked with Corall, who is originally from Milton Keynes but now lives in Leeds with Sam, preferring to take a bus to work rather than be spotted inside the car.
“The thing she hates most about it is the barking noise I’ve had put in. When I pull up to pick her up the car barks at her”, said Sam.
“It has a cockerel noise too, but that’s not as funny.
“It does have some downsides though. It’s been a year now so it’s actually looking a bit ruff.
“When I’m on the motorway or if I’m driving over 40mph the ears make it feel like I’m about to take off.
“I get pulled over quite a lot by the police but they soon realise there’s nothing illegal about it.
“More than anything they just laugh too. They all want to have a picture with it usually.
“But it does make me drive sensibly. It’s not like I can outrun anyone and blend in driving this car.”
