The Car Fountain

A fountain in Rome holds a car in the air.

This unusual fountain set up in Rome, Italy is the work of Spanish artist Juan Galdeano who wanted to make a statement that would hopefully draw attention to the issue of global warming. The fountain was built to look like it’s sustaining a hatchback Seat Ibiza, when in reality the car is being supported by an intricate installation. Let’s face it, that would have to be quite a powerful jet of water to sustain the car. The fountain is available to the public from June 5 to August 10.

Nice artwork and an important stetment to the world, bravo!

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KAZ – the electric limousine

KAZ is an Italian-Japanese joint project to make an electric limousine.

Keio Advanced Zero-Emissions vehicle, that’s what KAZ stands for. It took 5 years to build and cost $4 million but the result is more than impressive: it has 6 electric engines powering the limousines six wheels, each producing 74 horse-power and 74 lb-ft. of torque. That means this baby goes from 0 to 62mph in just 7 seconds, reaches a quarter mile in 15 seconds and has a top speed of 193.3 km/h.

It’s is powered by 84 lithium batteries that can carry the car for 186 miles on a single charge. It might not be the best-looking car out there but it’s environment-friendly and it runs perfectly.

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The greenest cars out there

And I’m not talking about environmentally green

Hell these babies could have huge v12 engines under their hoods, they’d still be green, because whether it’s real grass or astroturf, their nature suit is a statement to raise awareness on the problem of the environment. It must be tough driving to the country though, with all those cows and sheep chasing after you.

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True Horse Power Vehicle

Now that’s as real horse power as you’ll ever get!

When you first look at the Naturmobil it resembles a normal, modern stagecoach, but as soon as you see the horse in the back, standing on some kind of treadmill, you start to sense something is fishy. The Naturmobil is the ultimate horse-powered vehicle, because unlike other modern cars it’s powered by an actual horse. Naturmobil is a symbol of helping to save the environment and proves how easy it is to build a vehicle that doesn’t need fossil fuel, all you need is a strong horse and a bit of imagination. That brings us to how the Naturmobil functions: you get the horse in the back on the conveyor belt, a pneumatic system lifts the front a little so the horse starts walking naturally. The power of its walking goes into a 36-gear gearbox and makes the car reach a speed of 25-30km/h, but on a long straight road it can even reach 70-80km/h. And don’t worry about the horse, the vehicle’s official site says, sensors in the suspension sense when the temperature of the horse gets to high, or it gets to tired, a DC motor steps in and runs Naturmobil at a constant speed. The horse also has several food and water recipients and even a doo-doo disposal system, so he’s quite comfortable.

I’m really a fan of environment-friendly vehicles, so any prototypes, no matter how wacky they are, have my deepest appreciation!

Car balancing on wires

Coolest stunt I’ve seen in a while.

This driver must be crazy to attempt such a dangerous car stunt. Sure simply walking on a string while holding a pole as balance is no easy feat either, but driving a car is on a whole other level, ant the height would certainly kill the guy. I haven’t been able to find out where this took place but it must be some kind of new record.

Oddest anti car theft measures

No one wants to have their car stolen but still, this is a little over the top.

I wonder if any of these guys ever heard of car alarms. But then again who knows what neighborhood they live in, maybe a car alarm is useless. Stil, although I admire them for having a rich imagination, you need it to come up with this kind of solutions, but I they’re a little on the paranoid side.

Remote-control Hummer

I think this would make a really nice present for your inner child!

The “ultimate boy toy” as it was called in its press release, is the work of a British engineering lecturer, that managed to transform it from a regular H3 model, to a remote-controlled one. And it only took him one month’s time to do it. Impressive feat if you consider that it can climb a 16-inch vertical wall and maneuver in up to two feet of water.

One of a kind wooden car

Vasily Lazarenko wanted to create something extraordinary when he first started tinkering with car parts and many think he succeeded.

In his home town of Chernovtsny, Ukraine, Vasily took a year and a half to put together a unique vehicle out of a convertable and a luxurious saloon and then covered it all in oak. He says he will consider selling it if the buyer offers him enough to get his next wacky project going.

The Turbo-Beetle

Size really doesn’t matter people, this little bug is the perfect example.

Ron Patrick decided that conventional tuning wasn’t going to cut it for his 2000 VW Beetle so he decided to mount a $270.000 , 26,000rpm, 1.350 horse power Navy surplus helicopter jet turbine in the trunk of his ride. The Standford PhD and car designer says when the turbine kicks in, “it’s like the finger of God is pushing the car” but he only uses it until the car reaches 140mph, because he estimates that at about 160mph, the car would be airborne.

Patrick doesn’t use his little beast in races, because he feels he’s too mature to race with 16 year old fans of The Fast and The Furious. I’m not, let me have that baby and I’ll own the streets!

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