But, it's hard to ignore how motoring enthusiasts enjoy getting stuck into the nameplate. For a while it was the posterboy for 'change'; a new world without loud and brash V8s, a world that threatened to take those toys out of our hands.
To an end that torch has been passed on to Tesla. But the Prius still stands as a car that people will shout obscenities at in traffic, or judge in silent disgust. And, for those in that camp, fewer videos are sweeter than the one above of a 226kg knife getting dropped point first into a first-gen Prius.
It's from a group called Megabots Inc who appear to be experts in finding a field of engineering where almost everything you do on a daily basis is hilarious destructive fun. They've also built a mech. A huge, hulking mech capable of picking up cars and performing other kinds of shenanigans — as seen below in a clip where yet another Prius gets pummeled.
Apparently this huge bot is set to 'fight' a similar creation in Japan in a few months time, though what that's got to do with a giant comedy knife being dropped into a Toyota Prius I'm not entirely certain.
What I love about the video is the noise and motion of the knife's impact. The noise is so blunt and the motion of it penetrating the little Prius so smooth, that it almost looks like the knife belongs in there. Like this was meant to be — a knife sliding into its sheath.
Don't you just love science.