Patent ID: 8074751

Claim:
A hybrid vehicle kit, comprising: a wheel kit having a number of ground-engaging wheels; a track kit having a pair of ground-engaging tracks carried by track wheels; and a vehicle body capable of being interchangeably coupled to said wheel kit having said number of ground-engaging wheels mountable to said vehicle body and said track kit having said pair of ground-engaging tracks carried by track wheels mountable to said vehicle body, said vehicle body including: a chassis carrying a motor; a control shaft mounted to said chassis and operatively coupled to a steering device; a wheel mode steering shaft mounted to said chassis and operatively coupled to a wheel mode directional system; a track mode steering shaft mounted to said chassis and operatively coupled to a track mode directional system; and a shaft coupler capable of selectively coupling said control shaft to either one of said wheel mode steering shaft and to said track mode steering shaft, wherein a hybrid vehicle is formed in a wheel mode by assembling said vehicle body and said wheel kit and by coupling said control shaft to said wheel mode steering shaft, whereby said hybrid vehicle is driven by said motor rotating at least some of said ground-engaging wheels and is oriented with said wheel mode directional system, wherein said hybrid vehicle is formed in a track mode by assembling said vehicle body and said track kit and by coupling said control shaft to said track mode steering shaft, whereby said hybrid vehicle is driven by said motor rotating at least some of said track wheels and is oriented with said track mode directional system, wherein said hybrid vehicle is steerable by controlling said steering device notwithstanding whether said hybrid vehicle is in said wheel mode or in said track mode, and wherein said shaft coupler includes a wheel mode sleeve that rotates together with said wheel mode steering shaft and a track mode sleeve that rotates together with said track mode steering shaft, said wheel and track mode sleeves both freely engaging said control shaft, said shaft coupler further having a selective link for selectively linking in rotation one of said wheel and track mode sleeves to said control shaft.