Designing vehicle is clearly a scientific discipline – well , lots of sciences , really . Especially if you view the engineering , physics , metallurgy , interpersonal chemistry , computer skill and other " hard " disciplines expect to make a machine that ’s air- , road- , or sea - worthy .
Designing vehicles also happen to be an nontextual matter .
Alas , as with any category of art – or attempt at art – vehicle inventors , designer and manufacturers have occur up with some middling confusing prototypes over the years . In this article , we ’ll take a look at the 5 strange vehicles , as determined by HowStuffWorks.com ’s proprietary " Strange - type O - Meter " ranking engineering . Not familiar with that methodological analysis ? Well then , here ’s the way we ranked this collection of mechanised madness .
The sheer bulk of odd , exotic , and often ill - advised fomite out there is too staggering to answer for for them all in one top-5 ranking . So the unusual - O - Meter ranking algorithm , while too technologically advanced to explicate here , works based on a few simple rule to pin down down the choices :
While we may not see these mocking and often comic contraptions every sidereal day , we do generally benefit from their legacy . By pushing the boundaries of what ’s conceivable , they ’ve allowed us to keep amplify the limits of what ’s possible , in hold vehicle that are more esthetically adventuresome , more versatile , more efficient and , of course , more sport .
5: Terrafugia Transition
If you ’ve been herded onto a commercial-grade airliner in the past few years , you ’d be in good company in asking , " Whatever happened to fly the favorable skies ? " Asairlinepassengers , we ’re considered guilty until proven innocent by encroaching search ; once we become airborne , we ’re Ni - and - dimed for every minor convenience such asfood , drink and headphones . Oh yeah , and do n’t forget the hold in luggage fee .
And then there ’s getting to theairportin the first place . If you ca n’t leash a champion or relative into driving you there , and if public passage is n’t an option , then you ’ve got to drive . And pay off for parking .
The hoi polloi at Terrafugia , a Boston - based light aircraft caller , are mould on a possible answer to these indignities .
The Terrafugia Transition is what the company calls a " roadable aircraft . " That is , it go as a street - sound automobile in driving to the aerodrome . When it ’s time for takeoff , the number one wood activates ascendancy that deploy a exercise set of stubby , fold - down extension . The craft ’s rear - rise drug peddler propellor then launches the changeover down the track and skywards .
The Transition makes our leaning for its unconventional dual function . It ’s an endeavor to solve several farm problem for civil aviation and transportation in general ; and well , just see at it !
Warning : You might not be sure whether to take a drive or take a bite with our next vehicle , so we ’ll enjoin you now – doing the latter will only get you a chip off tooth . That said , it ’s really a sight to behold .
4: The Cupcake Car
Do the cooky - cutter vehicle rolling off automaker fabrication railway line ever strike you as suave ? The Cupcake Car , designed by creative person Lisa Pongrace , could add the spice ( andsugar ) for which you ’ve been yearn . While it may look yum - yum , do n’t expect the Cupcake Car to offer much in the zoom - rapid climb section – itselectric motoronly propels it to around 7 miles per hour ( 11.3 klick per minute ) .
The Cupcake Car was in the first place conceived as a rolling art installation for the bohemian - themed Burning Man outcome held every year in Black Rock Desert , Nev.
But for those with an incurable sweet tooth for paying extravagant sums for the exclusive right of being different , Neiman Marcus has a sweet dainty for you . you’re able to putter around in your very own Cupcake Car , in your option of customise , ( non - eatable ) exterior icing vogue . One can be yours for just $ 25,000 [ reservoir : Squatriglia ] .
We do hint nibble up an detail of matching headwear ( as shown ) . After all , not to do so would just be tasteless .
If the safe , aggregate - food market design of the machine diligence have ever allow you feel catatonic , then you ’ll want to swoop on yourmousebutton and tick to our next strange vehicle .
3: Catmobiles
And now , from acupcaketo a real nerveless khat . Make that a cool true cat - egory . If you thought there were an awful lot of versions of theBatmobileover the years , you ’d well brace yourself : we come up a chela - full of Catmobiles in our hunt for strange steed .
Cars form like Cheshire cats , catconvertibles , a cat - form bus – the Strange - O - Meter placed this bedding of kitten car in a statistical bushed heat energy in terms of foreign divisor .
Perhaps not surprisingly , more than a few cat coaches are attendant of Burning Man , the one-year festival of originative ego - expression book each year in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada .
According to the rules of Burning Man , motorized vehicle that are used primarily for hauling hoi polloi around are mostly forbidden – they go against the spirit of the event ; and besides , they stimulate too many accidents . But wearisome - movingart cars , also called " mutant vehicles , " are allow upon receiving prescribed approval from burn Man brass ( specifically , its Department of Mutant Vehicles , or DMV ) [ rootage : Burning Man ] .
We ’re beaming for the f number and design limitation range on these vehicular critters . From the looks of some of them , these are thin felines , and to have one involved in an fortuity would be simply catastrophic .
Our next strange fomite also turns heads wherever it blend . And while it does float , it ’s sure enough no parade float . Learn more on the next page .
2: WaterCar Python
Southern California - found WaterCar is far from the first outfit to make a route - depart vehicle that also address competently in water . But the business firm can make a credible claim to being the most exciting .
With the tagline of " World ’s Fastest Amphibious Vehicles , " WaterCar has made a big splash on the presumably pocket-size market of individuals who ’d rather drive their boat to its next appointment on the waves than tow it – and are uncoerced to pitchfork over $ 200,000 for the privilege .
WaterCar initially drew attention with its Chevy Camaro - esque physical structure , construct to smoothly shift modal value from car to powerboat as shortly as it left the launching incline .
More latterly , WaterCar turned to a few usage designs to carry on its brand .
The jazzy variant , the Python , combines a custom fiberglasstruckbody with the buoyancy of a boat . you could drive it right into the body of water and conversion flat to powerboat mode . WaterCar claims the Python can do 60 mile per hour ( 96.6 klick per hour , or 52.1 knots ) in the weewee with its LS1 Corvette locomotive engine , and more than 125 mi per hour ( 201.2 kilometers per hour ) on land .
With our next and final top - order strange vehicle , if " Strange " were its first name , its middle name would in spades be " Danger . " If you make bold , go to the next Sir Frederick Handley Page and ask yourself , " Would I really get on this thing ? "
1: Dodge Tomahawk
The Dodge Tomahawk , a conceptmotorcycle - like conveyancing possessing more than 500horsepower , makes our leaning for its wanton and brazen dismissal of even a nod to practicality . On this one , clearly the house decorator beat the bean rejoinder . Upon its release in 2003 , a Dodge functionary ring the Tomahawk " a bold - faced smack against averageness . "
Yes , that ’s a V-10engine , the same one used in the Dodge Viper mutant car , protrude out from beneath the fuel tank .
With its foresightful visibility and stubby handlebars , you wo n’t be out - corner much on a Tomahawk , except maybe semi - tractor trailers . But with a 0 to 60 miles per hour ( 0 to 96.6 kilometre per hour ) time of just 2.6 seconds , who demand to corner ? That is , if you could even ride one – which you ca n’t . They ’ve all been sold ( at somewhere north of $ 500,000 each ) and none of them are street legal .
We ’re disposed to agree with Forbes self-propelling diary keeper Dan Lienert , who wrote of the Tomahawk : " allot to Dodge representatives it is signify to show how the caller is capable of ' thinking outside the box . ' We just trust it ’s not a pine box " [ informant : Lienert ] .
For its bold ( or baffling ) design , depending on your point of view , the Dodge Tomahawk makes the cut on our list of strange vehicles .
With that , it ’s time for us to return the hard - working HowStuffWorks " unknown - O - Meter " back to its recharging dock and wrap up this clause . But if you ’re looking for more information about strange orunusual vehiclesand other related issue , follow the links on the next pageboy .
