Category: Vehicles

How to economise your car – Doug Heffron's super-efficient 1989 Geo Metro

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Anyone fretting about the pumps drying up again, should the Shell tanker drivers strike once more, might want to think about Doug Heffron’s alternative coping method rather than panic buying.

Back in 1993 when fuel prices sky-rocketed in the US, Doug home converted his Geo Metro Xfi, which already did a very reasonable 56 miles per gallon, into a rather unsightly but undeniably stripped-down and highly economical 75mpg mutant machine…

Daniel Sung Energy systems, Vehicles

Can't find a taxi? Get a Smart Car out of a vending machine instead

Photographed in Tokyo’s Shibuya Station is this awesome oddity – a vending machine for the virtually disposable little Smart Car. You may select a convertible or hard-topped model, depending on how flash you’re feeling.

Then you can drive off looking very silly indeed.

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Obviously it’s not real. You won’t get a car out of it – just some promotional…

Gary Cutlack Transport, Vehicles, Weirdness

European manned spaceship shown off in Berlin – Patrick Moore still in with a chance before he dies

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It’s only a prototype, but the new EADS Astrium design here is based on the existing unmanned Jules Verne pod already flying about up there, so it could easily take scientists and paying billionaires up into the ionosphere with a bit of tweaking.

Very handy if you’ve recently applied to be an astronaut or are just generally excited about space things…

Gary Cutlack Science, Space, Vehicles

The Squirt 2 – a 100% safe 1370HP jet-powered boat

We must try very hard not to refer to the Squirt 2 jet-powered boat as a “death trap.” Every time we call an odd and dangerous-looking invention a death trap, the inventor pops up and gets quite angry about it being labelled as a death trap.

As of yet, no one has died during the testing and creation of the Squirt 2 Turbine Jet-Boat so, for all intents and purposes, it is entirely safe. You may well emerge totally alive and unscathed from a trip on the aluminium-hulled jet-propelled speedboat that generates 1370 horsepower. Here it is showing off by firing up its engine…

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Your hair will be slightly ruffled and there’s a chance your bowels will have emptied…

Gary Cutlack Energy systems, Vehicles, Weirdness

Monkeylectric m132s LED bicycle adaptor- completely safe, completey seen

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See, you don’t have to just mod computers, Monkeylectric will do your bike for you now too. That’s good, clean, healthy gadgety fun. Nice to talk tech that gets one out of the shadows of one’s pop tart-littered geek den from time to time.

You see, I think this looks bloody excellent. The first thought in my head was Burning Man but then there’s an every day use as well.

Who needs to bother with those square-looking yellow reflectors and sash combos while cycling about our city streets when you can bad it up with an LED neon circus at your wheels?

Daniel Sung Vehicles