The Gadget Master in question is one Huan Truong, and his Android Auto hack is dubbed “Crankshaft”.

Apparently there is already an open source Android Auto head unit emulator – the OpenAuto – but the developer wanted to build on this create his own, simpler version, for his 1998 car with single DIN slot.

You just need a Raspberry Pi 3, the Pi 7-inch LCD touchscreen and a suction cup to hold the back of the Pi to the windscreen.

He says his approach avoids a lot of extra configuration details, and is instead a “turnkey distribution that you can just download” to your Raspberry Pi 3 and it will “just work”.

He shares a lot about the project in a reddit post.

For example, he asks for feedback from those who give his project a drive. He is, however, upfront about its beta status:

This is not a finished product. It is not something you’d expect in a product that sells for hundreds of dollars. This is an experiment to have fun: It’s like something we do in the garage for the weekend and show to our spouse/mom and they would say “Oh honey, you’re so smart and high tech!” So please take it lightly – both for successes and failures. Instead of thinking of it as “a cheap way to have Android Auto,” think of it as “a cheap way to experiment with a Raspberry Pi and have Android Auto as a swag.” Don’t pour money into it. Don’t drive to the hospital with it.

You can read more details about the project on getcrankshaft.com/

Also, check out the videos below, covering a features demo and a driving demo.