Category: Vehicles
eBay Nutcase of the Week: Aerocar N103D "flying car" up for spares or repair
This innocent-looking little bubble car is, so the auction says, the first and only officially certified and legally usable flying car in the world.
The wings don’t fold out – they come in a separate trailer and need attaching, a process which apparently takes “five minutes”. Once you’re up, you can can soar above (and trying not to think about crashing into) the traffic below at a thrilling airspeed of 100mph…
Petrol-powered Snowboard is snow joke
Okay, in reality this bears as much resemblance to a regular snowboard as a petrol-powered, three seater lawnmower with cupholders does to a hand-pushed traditional lawnmower, but bright yellow paintwork aside, doesn’t it look awesome?
It’s got a 6.5 horsepower engine, and can carry up to 250lbs as fast as 18mph. That might not sound fast if you’re used to cars, but when you’re whizzing along millimetres from the snow, it feels a damn sight faster than is comfortable. You steer by – *gulp* – leaning to one side, and it’ll run for two hours on three quarters of a gallon of petrol. The cost? A slick US$2,000. At that price, I’ll stick to my skis.
Hammacher Schlemmer (via OhGizmo!)
Related posts: Sno-Baller: huge tongs for making perfectly spherical snowballs | 20,000MW Speakers made of snow
Try getting your head around Fujitsu's wraparound car camera
I had to look at this photo a few times before I understood it, but it seems like Fujitsu’s managed to come up with a camera that gives you a 360° field of vision – all around your car. That way there’s less chance of you knocking into that bollard, or running over your neighbour’s cat.
Clapped-out Fiat 126 becomes Flat Out Fiat 126
It’s the sort of thing you’d expect Clarkson, Hammond and May to attempt on Top Gear, but this low-down vehicle is the work of car designer Andy Saunders.
So infuriated was he that his 1985 Mini Claustrophobia lost the world record for “lowest car” to another that he decided to literally mash up a 1989 Fiat 126…
Bloodhound Super Sonic Car to go over 1000mph
A team from the UK is looking to set the new land speed record and break the 1,000 mph barrier in the process. The Bloodhound Super Sonic Car will be driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, probably a good thing because at a top speed of 1,050mph, it’ll also be passing what is considered to be normal velocity for low flying aircraft…
BMW key fob to double as your credit card
Okay, we’ve seen
Oyster cards on your mobile, car keys on your mobile, and barcode scanners on your mobile. BMW are taking the mobile out of the equation, however, and putting credit card functionality on your car keys. Experimental fob technology will allow you to pay for cheap items with just a swipe of your keys, like a Paywave card…
The battery-powered Mini E – an electric vehicle cool enough to be seen driving by people you know
Finally, an electric car that doesn’t resemble the sort of thing Noddy & Big Ears would drive around the surface of the Moon.
This is the Mini E, a li-ion-powered electric version of the Mini. It’s a rather severely limited edition model, with only 500 being made – and all of them already earmarked for delivery to the sort of companies that fancy having a fleet of electric Minis on the books to make them look good…
World about to get lighter and stronger thanks to "buckypaper" and the magic of nanotubing
Buckypaper is similar in concept to papier mache – layer it up thick and it gets stronger. So strong, in fact, that aeroplanes and rockets and even common household chairs could all be made from buckypaper in distant some future world. We are therefore calling it papier mache 2.0.
The invention of scientists at Florida State University’s High-performance Materials Institute (headed by Ben Wang, pictured), buckypaper is a simple way of compositing…
Self Balancing Unicycle – no clown skills required
The only thing ridiculous about unicycling is having to constantly pedal backwards and forwards to keep yourself on the thing. So how about a unicycle where you don’t have to pedal? Ladies and gentlemen, meet the self-balancing unicycle…
New Moon Rover has red stripe to boost street cred
Pictured above isn’t a new concept car from Ferrari or whoever, but a new Moon rover designed by Carnegie Mellon University. And it looks pretty damn cool. It even has a cool name – the Scarab.
Whilst Mars may have Spirit and Opportunity plodding along like dorks, collecting samples and taking photos, the Moon may soon have this beast tearing up the craters – and I don’t just mean that in the hyperbolic sense, as it is designed to get at the minerals a metre below the surface on the dark side of the moon.
