Peter Walczak, who never really considered himself a “car guy,” took on an unexpected hobby: creating a real-life version of the famous Warthog jeep from the Halo games.
As a kid, Peter loved video games, but his passion faded over time. That changed in the early 2000s when a friend told him about the Xbox. He bought one, not for Halo but for Steel Battalion, a game that came with a huge controller. “It was an awful game,” he remembers, so he thought, “I might as well get this stupid Halo game that everyone’s talking about.”
He quickly became a fan of Halo’s cool worlds and space stories, playing online with his friend on maps like Blood Gulch. While stationed in Hawaii, when others were out enjoying the beach, Peter was glued to a small TV on a ship, playing Halo 2. “It was the peak of that gaming era for me,” he says. “Nothing comes close.”
Now, Peter considers himself a “car guy,” though it took a while. With his tinkering skills and a background in electrical engineering, he dreamed of building his own Warthog after seeing one in a Halo series. “I just thought, I can probably build something like that,” he chuckles. “How hard could it be?”
After moving into a house with a garage, Peter found an old truck being sold cheaply by someone he knew. He bought it and, with friends, began transforming it into a Warthog. “That’s when it became real,” he reflects. “I had a dilapidated old truck in my driveway. I just thought, ‘What am I doing with my life? I guess I’m actually building this thing.'”
We all have wild dreams sometimes, and it’s okay to chase them.
In 2014, Peter started the project seriously, teaching himself welding and using a 3D printer. He tried to buy common parts to make it easier but soon realized he needed special components from different places. Most of the work he did himself, except for the windscreen and a tricky bumper, which required expert help. “I was a handy person with a technical degree, but I realized pretty quickly that I had to learn a lot to get this done,” he admits.
Peter shared his project on social media, and Halo fans loved it. Some people even wanted to buy his Warthog, but he wasn’t interested. “Every price I’ve been offered would really just cover the parts,” he explains. “I just tell them, ‘Hey, this is 10 years of my life you’re talking about!'”
Looking back, Peter laughs at his journey and wonders if he would ever do such a big project again. “Honestly, I have to resist the urge to do this one all over again,” he says with a smile. He’s even thought about building the Pelican dropships from Halo, but that’s just a dream for now.
Right now, his Warthog is almost done—97% complete. He’s taken it apart and painted it, which took much longer than expected. “I can see the end of the tunnel,” he mentions. “It’s a strange feeling.”
People often ask about the fake turret on his Warthog, worried it might cause trouble. “Honestly, it’s a piece of PVC pipe. It’s not something I really worry about,” he says. Making it street-legal is more about basics like working wipers and seatbelts.
For others wanting to follow in his footsteps, Peter offers advice: “Stop talking about it and just do it.” He suggests starting small if you can’t afford to go big right away. “Spend less time talking about it and more time learning. You might not have the skills or the money to get started today, but you can go on YouTube and learn something, or just buy a cheap welder and play with it. Just do something. That’s the main thing.”
