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The ‘Delivery Expert’ stops by GeekWire HQ in Seattle today.

What happens when a pizza chain crowdsources the design for its new high-tech delivery vehicle? You get a souped up ride that — while practical — is clearly the brainchild of stoned 20-somethings.

Meet the Dominos DXP (Delivery Expert): A modified Chevy Spark car complete with a pizza warming oven, 80-pizza carrying capacity, a light that projects the Dominos logo as it drives by, and OnStar GPS.

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The DXP warming oven holds 80 pizzas.

“It screams Dominos pizza all over it,” said local Dominoes franchisee Greg Keller. “It screams delivery car.”

GeekWire had the chance to check out the DXP, and sample its contents, as part of a limited roll out. Dominos is testing the vehicle in 25 markets, including the Seattle area.

DSC09598“We only have 13 vehicles in the state right now so it’s kind of a pilot test to see how these vehicles do,” Keller said. “After this first year or so we’ll get some data from them and see if it’s something we should keep doing as a company.”

Dominos launched the DXP project in collaboration with GM, Roush Enterprises, and Local Motors. The latter hosted the online crowdsourcing design competition, which helped bring the vehicle to life.

Pizza and tech may not seem like a natural fit, but Dominos is on a mission to marry the two. Its GPS pizza tracker lets hungry customers pinpoint exactly where their delivery is. Last year Dominos debuted Dom, a virtual assistant to help with orders and in May it launched “Tweet a Pizza,” a program that allows users to order by tweeting the pizza emoji.

Time will tell whether Dominos implements a full rollout of the vehicles, but their practical use is clear: Our pizzas stayed hot on the drive through this stormy Seattle day.

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