Adorned with almost 500 stuffed toys, Bruce Mitchelson’s Toyota Corolla has to be the craziest-looking car in Melbourne.

Bruce thought a great way to show his support for the Cronulla Sharks rugby team would be to paint his old Corolla in the team’s colors and stick on some plush sharks. This was back in 2008, but the Cronulla Sharks have barely won a game since.

But the idea of sticking toys to his car was so good that Bruce couldn’t stop. He kept buying toys at garage sales, and at one point he was adding up to 12 toys a day. Now he’s pretty much run out of space, but he estimates there are 300 stuffed toys on the outside, and around 200 on the inside of his Toyota Corolla.

And if you’re thinking the police might have something to say about Bruce’s toy car, you should know the man is totally in the clear. he has been pulled over several times, but as long as the license plate and side-mirrors are visible, he’s ok.

Photo by Craig Greenhil/NEWSPIX/REX FEATURES via DailyTelegraph

Photo by Craig Greenhil/NEWSPIX/REX FEATURES via Telegraph.co.uk

A team of wacky scientists from BBC1’s “Bang Goes the Theory” TV show, have converted a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco into a coffee-powered car, nicknamed Car-puccino.

As revolutionary as this concept sounds, it’s more of a fun project than a cost-efficient one. The idea behind Car-puccino is relatively simple: coffee, like wood or coal, has traces of carbon in it, so it burns. Use a bucket load of coffee, heat it enough to break it down into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, direct the gases towards the engine, and you’ve got yourself a running vehicle.

That sounds easy enough, but there is a down-side to using coffee as fuel. First of all, it’s between 25 and 50 times more expensive than petrol. Car-puccino is schedule to journey 210 miles, from Manchester to London, and the team estimates it will burn through 70 kilos of coffee. Multiply that by 13-26 British pounds per kilo (depending on the quality and brand) and you get some pretty big numbers. Plus, Car-puccino will have to pull over every 60 miles or so, so the crew can clean up the filters of tar.

Pretty original idea, but I doubt we’ll ever see Car-puccino go into production. I wonder what the exhaust fumes smell like, though…Espresso?

Daily Mail via AutoRoyalty

I don’t know what it is about Formula 1 cars that makes people want to replicate them using the most unusual materials.

This time it’s Puma’s turn to make a life-size Formula 1 car out of cut-out shoe boxes.  The cardboard model was created in collaboration with UK-based Ben Wilson Design, and is meant to represent Puma’s ongoing relationship with motorsports.

The cardboard car was obviously very difficult to make. According to Ben Wilson himself, many Puma shoe boxes were used, especially in the development stage. First a real Formula 1 vehicle was scanned, then ‘ripped’ to pieces on the computer, and put together out of shoe box pieces, cut with an oscillating cutter.

The shoe box Formula 1 car is now on display at a Puma store in Chicago.

via PSFK

After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indians realized exclusive golf clubs are on the list of potential targets, and came up with an electric armored golf cart.

The Metaltech Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart, or A-TAC, was designed to assist Indian armed forces in dealing with terrorists, and can easily fit into lifts and narrow corridors, thanks to its cart-like shape. The A-TAC might look like a wacky golf-cart but it will protect you even against explosions, not to mention gunshots.

Weighing around a half-a-ton, the Meltatech Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart is powered by an electric battery and runs for six hours, on a single charge. As you’d expect, it doesn’t reach impressive speeds, but 25km/h is not bad for an armored golf-cart.

If you’re looking for protection on the golf course, you’ll have to fork out $45,000 for Metaltech’s Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart.

24-year-old Ruslan Moukanov managed to prove it’s not all about the money when you want to drive the car of your dreams.

For the young Kazakh, the exclusive Rolls Royce Phantom seemed like an unreachable dream, when he first saw some photos of it, years ago, in the local library. Since raising 500,000 euros was out of the question, Ruslan had to come up with another way of getting the car of his dreams.

Using only his auto-tuning skills, this Rolls Royce fan managed to give his old Mercedes Benz a total make-over and turn into a perfect replica of the Phantom. It might not drive like one and the materials used might be “a little” cheaper, but for the ,3000 euros Ruslan spent, it doesn’t get much better than this. Congrats!

via AutoRoyalty

I’m a big Merc fan myself, and the SL600 is definitely on my “to get list”, but this Swarovski-covered neck-twister is not my style.

But, apparently, most Mercedes fans are crazy about Swarovski crystals and it was once again proven at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, where the sparkling SL600, covered with 300,000 Swarovski crystals, stole the show.

Created by Garson/D.A.D, a popular car accessory company, the two Sworovski SL600 made their second appearance at the annual auto show in Tokyo, after they were first introduced last year. They were still the stars of the show, though.

via AsiaOne

Created back in 2008, by British artists Benedict Radcliffe, the wireframe replica of a Lamborghini Countach is now up for grabs.

The 14 feet-long, 6 feet-wide see-through Lamborghini replica was created using 160 feet of 10-millimeter steel tubing and was parked on display on a London street where people could stare at it as long as they liked. Now Radcliffe decided it’s time to cash-in on his original creation, so he put the wireframe Lamborghini Countach up for sale.

The price is nowhere near that of a real Lamborghini Countach, but it’s not cheap either. $65,000 isn’t easy to part with in these troubled times.

via Autoblog

What can you do with an old Ford Capri bought on eBay? Cover it in small toy cars and turn it into an art project, of course.

Young James Ford has spent the last two years working on General Carbunkle, a homage to General Lee, the legendary race car from The Dukes of Hazard. He thought of an original way to pay tribute to this popular ride and decided he was going to cover it in red and orange toy cars.

Ford relied on toy donations from all over the world, in order to complete his project, but did impersonate a toy-shop owner to get his hands on 2,000 toy cars. In the end he estimates he used between 3,500 and 4,500 cars, mostly T-birds and Double Decker buses.

Ford intends to auction the General Carbunkle on eBay, so his project can come full circle.

via Creative Review

I’ve seen a wooden car before, but this is definitely my first wooden super car. And who do you think built it? That’s right, the Japanese.

Maniwa was hand-made by wood craftsmen, for Japanese company Sada-Kenbi. Remarkably, Maniwa is drivable and can accelerate to a speed of up to 80km/h. It has a motorcycle handlebar instead of a steering-wheel, a working stereo and even cool wooden Lambo doors.

The wooden sport car has just one wooden front seat, for the driver, but can accomodate two passengers on the wooden bench in the back. If you’re thinking of buying Maniwa, you’ll be pleased to know it costs only $40,000.

Have a nice drive and try not to smoke at the wheel.

It does make more sense for some rich dude like Bruce Wayne to roll in an over-the-top limousine than in a crappy old Batmobile.

The Dark Knight’s limo was spotted on the streets of New York, but strangely enough, he wasn’t the one driving it. Sadly, apart from the fact that its started out as a normal limousine (probably a Corvette C4), the photos and video below, there isn’t much info on the awesome Bat-limo. If you know something I don’t, do share.

via CarScoop and Autogespot