Fuse the sublime Sumi-e art of Feudal Japan with the sublime tire shredding art of contemporary Japan and you get Drift Sumi-e, quite possibly the most Japanese driving game for iPhone ever. Unlike other driving games that put you behind the wheel, Sumi-e drift lets you draw your racing line through each beautifully drawn drift course, then watch the action unfold. You can take snapshots to document your drifts and send them to your friends. The app looks fun and is a steal at only $.99.

Source: Drift Sumi-e

This next list is not a listing of who’s who in the art world. It is more so a list of artists who present us with their amazing visions of what the automobile is to them. Now take a look at some very cool visuals and make sure you pay their sites a visit because this is only the tip of their creative icebergs.

1. Christophe Desse

http://www.xtrm3d.com

2. Kane Rogers

http://www.kanerogers.com/

3. Le Morris

http://www.lemorris.com/site/

4. Brent Hale

http://www.brenthale.com/

5. Camilo Pardo

http://www.camilopardo.com/camilo.html

6. Michael Irvine

http://www.michaelirvine.com

7. Michael Leonhard

http://www.michael-leonhard.com/

8. Janne Kutja

http://www.jannekutja.com/homepage_pics/

9. Terry Ross

http://www.speed-still.com: I am simply blown away by the fact that someone was able to take multiple artistic visions like this and turn them into three dimensional sculptures. These are simply astonishing.

10. Thom Taylor

http://www.hotrodthom.com

In Sweden, a virgin with a 1973 Lincoln Continental and a cool $1 million spent about 5 years crafting a full scale replica of the Batmobile. Now, perhaps we’ve been spoiled by years of high-resolution studio photographs of some of the most beautifully engineered cars in the business, but to our discerning eyes the Swedish Batmobile looks a little, uh, shop class. It took the guy 20,000 hours to build though, so despite our penchant for going for the jugular we’re going to stymie the snarky criticism before it starts and simply give credit where credit’s due. Nice job, Sven.

Full gallery after the jump

Source

A representative of the breed.

Ay dios mio! You need to speak in another language to express the severe mental distress inflicted by this shockingly unsexy horrorshow known as the Bond Minicar. We were playing around on craigslist when we stumbed across this ad for a Bond in San Francisco. Where to begin? How about that exterior … it looks like someone wanted to build a replica of Ace and Gary’s phallic Duocar, but all they had laying around was an old wheelchair and a bunch of plywood.

It's not tiny! It's just cold out!

Under the hood? The Minicar was powered anemically motivated by a single cylinder 197cc Villiers 2-stroke motorcycle engine, thus giving less horsepower than a medium sized dog and producing copious amounts of smoke. All this adds up to a ride so atrocious that we can’t possibly imagine paying for the privilege of riding in it. At $25,900 for what is functionally a phallic Trabant convertible made in Britain, we want to wish the seller good luck. Maybe a Shriner just bought a winning lottery ticket! Anything can happen.

[Source: craigslist]

Honda Simulation Hardware

New educational software from Honda called “Honda Safety Navi” is being sold and is essentially a PC-based automobile driving simulator. Despite screenshots that border on anime-style graphics, Honda’s first attempt at selling software is not as silly as it may look.

"Super Fantastic Happy Crosswalk"

Using a personal computer and bundled together with accessories such as a steering wheel and pedals, Honda Safety Navi contains two types of programs. The first, “Eco-Drive” helps users understand fuel-efficient driving techniques and learn key points of fuel efficient driving. The second program called “SD Coacher” helps users learn key points of safe driving in the event of adverse weather and road conditions such as snow or rain, and in more accident prone situations like at night.

Users are aided in the learning process by following the simple “idiot proof” on-screen and audio instructions, making an instructor unnecessary. (Sort of like earning a bachelors degree from Arizona State) The package is intended not only for beginners, but for a wide range of drivers, including companies whose employees use automobiles for commuting or business purposes, and driving schools. Price of the entire bundle can get pricey however, running into the equivalent of over $3,000 for the entire package including hardware.

Complex adaptive systems are all those special cases when you put a bunch of simple elements together and they interact and adapt and learn and work as a whole. Social insects, the free market, evolution, all the single cells in your brain that create a single consciousness; they’re all complex adaptive systems. Scientists are starting to realize the importance of these systems, and how understanding them can give us insights into all sorts of seemingly unrelated things.

It can help us understand human phenomenon like traffic congestion and the stock market, all sorts of social issues, biological issues, everything really. It has practical applications too. Scientists can use genetic algorithms to help find solutions to complex problems. Basically like evolving a solution. And that’s just what this guy did, he put together a simple flash program with an evolving car. Check out the program and a description here:

If you want to evolve the most efficient car, you program the computer to run a random wheeled object through some type of course, and every time it fails, you change some parameters on the car. If the car performs better, that was a change in the right direction, if it performs worse, it was a change in the wrong direction. The computer keeps track of those things, and over time it works out the most efficient car based on the programming.

The guy who wrote this program is named Matthew, and he said, “This is a GA (genetic algorithm) I wrote to design a little car for a specific terrain. It runs in real-time in Flash. The fitness function is the distance traveled before the red circles hit the ground, or time runs out. The degrees of freedom are the size and initial positions of the four circles, and length, spring constant and damping of the eight springs. The graph shows the ‘mean’ and ‘best’ fitness.”

Pretty cool, eh?

(via Matthew via BoingBoing)

Akira has always been popular with anime freaks and film buffs, but recently there’s some renewed interest because the 2 part live-action version has been announced. Supposedly the new version will be less of remake of the film, and more of an interpretation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel series. Each film will be based on three of the six volumes of the original novel.

Warner Brothers paid seven-figures for the rights to the movie, so there should be an adequate budget fitting for the scale of a film like Akira. The studio’s describing the film as “Blade Runner meets City of God”, which sounds pretty freaking outstanding. Hopefully it won’t disappoint.

BTW, check out cartoonist Harry Partridge’s hilarious spoof of the mistakes an American Akira might make:

The new Cooper and Cooper S Convertables will make their official debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. MINI says they’ve made “incremental” improvements, and apparently they’re too small to see. The one very visible change is the price, at $24,550, the new Cooper Convertable is $2,600 more than the 2009 model. The Cooper S was bumped up $2,050 to $27,450.

So, very few changes to the car, but major changes to the price. It makes sense though, the market wants this car right now, and they sold like hotcakes at the previous price; supply and demand, up goes the new price. Check out the pictures and the press release for all the other details.

Press Release:

The new MINI Convertible.

* The next-generation model of the celebrated four-seat convertible which achieves some 164,000 in worldwide sales. The new MINI Convertible embodies the thrill of open-air motoring in unmistakably MINI style. Raising the high standard set by its predecessor, the new MINI Convertible features improvements in the areas of design, quality, handling, performance, efficiency, and functionality.

* Evolutionary development of the car’s design: The two-door body style and soft-top roof deliver unique proportions, sleek lines, and truly individual style. Design cues clearly link the new convertible to the MINI family of vehicles.

* Refined overall appearance highlighting the stretched silhouette and ensuring enhanced presence from both front and rear. Expertly modeled body surfaces, low-roofline for roadster-like flair, concealed rollover protection bar. Signature MINI headlamps and taillights. Four-pivot joints for the luggage compartment top are mounted inside the car to ensure a harmonious and sleek appearance.

* Electrohydraulic-powered roof with the sliding roof function comes standard, and allows the driver to open and close the soft top while the car is in motion up to 20 mph. The standard Openometer feature records the time spent travelling with the roof down. A wider range of paint colors, roof colors, wheels, and upholstery and interior trim choices provide endless opportunities for personalization. Also, model-specific optional extras and special equipment are available.

* Newly developed, electromechanically operated rollover bar situated behind the rear seats, is activated by the car’s central safety electronics in the event of a rollover. The innovative safety bar allows for optimum visibility to the rear and sides of the car. An optional loading storage between the luggage and passenger compartments expands the cargo space.

* The flexible storage system delivers outstanding functionality. The easy-load system includes: an expanded luggage compartment opening, rear seat backrests that can be folded down and locked into position, and a pivoting, two-position shelf for packages.

* New generation of four-cylinder gasoline engines with Twin-Scroll turbochargers or fully variable valve management. Engine capacity 1,598 cc, max output 118 hp (MINI Cooper Convertible) and 172 hp (MINI Cooper S Convertible). Both engine variants are equipped with a number of technical features that maximize fuel economy and minimize emissions.

* MINI’s signature front-wheel drive, go-kart-like handling with refined suspension technology tuned specifically to the MINI Convertible. Electromechanical Power Steering (EPS). Brake system with anti-lock brakes (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Cornering Brake Control (CBC) and Brake Assistant, as well as Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with Start-Off Assistant are all standard features. Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) with Electronically Differential Lock Control (EDLC) feature on the drive wheels enhances traction under acceleration, and is available as an option or as part of the Sport Package.

* Crash-optimized body structure with newly conceived floorpan and reinforced A-pillars and side-sills. Body stiffness further improved over the former model, with a reduction in vehicle weight by 22 lb. Three-point inertia-reel seat belts on all seats, with belt latch tensioners and belt force limiters at the front, frontal airbags, head/thorax airbags at the side integrated in the seat backrest, rollover sensor masterminding the rollover safety system, airbags and belt latch tensioners with for optimized functionality. Run-flat tires and Tire Pressure Monitor.

* MINI Cooper S Convertible:
Four-cylinder gasoline engine with Twin-Scroll turbocharger and
direct fuel injection.
Capacity: 1,598 cc, max output: 172 hp at 5,500 rpm.
Max torque: 177 lb-ft from 1,600–5,000 rpm
(192 lb-ft with Overboost).
Acceleration 0–60mph: 7.0 sec Manual, 7.2 Automatic, Top speed: 138 mph Manual, 135 mph Automatic.

* MINI Cooper Convertible:
Four-cylinder gasoline engine with VALVETRONIC technology.
Capacity: 1,598 cc, max output: 118 hp at 6,000 rpm.
Max torque: 114 lb-ft at 4,250 rpm.
Acceleration (0–60 mph): 8.9 sec Manual, 10.2 Automatic, Top speed: 124 mph Manual, 119 mph Automatic.
Consistently Open:
The new MINI Convertible.

The driving pleasure and individual style that are MINI’s signatures have been tapped to create the next-generation MINI Convertible. With its evolutionary design and increased functionality, specially tuned suspension, powerful, efficient engines and enhanced safety technology, the latest version of the four-seat convertible raises the bar.

New color choices and equipment features add up to endless options for personalization. The premium materials and finishes enhance the MINI Convertible – the only open-air car in its class – even further.

The new MINI Convertible will make its worldwide debut in January at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Orders for the MINI Convertible are being taken now; the price for the MINI Cooper Convertible is $24,550 and for the MINI Cooper S Convertible $27,450, including the $650 destination and handling charge. Delivery of the first MINI Convertibles will begin on March 28, 2009.

The new MINI Convertible’s durable soft-top with integrated sliding roof function reliably protects driver and passengers from the elements when it is up. Allowing for spontaneous open-air motoring, the soft top lowers automatically in 15 seconds flat, even when the car is in motion up to 20 mph. The unique Openometer next to the tachometer challenges the driver to log as many top-down miles as possible by recording the hours spent open-air motoring.

The new MINI Convertible offers outstanding versatility with its Easy-Load Function, folding rear-seat backrests, and generously-sized loading between the luggage and passenger compartments, which increases the car’s cargo space to 23.10 cu ft.

This level of versatility, unparalleled in the convertible segment is enabled by the innovative design and construction of the rollover protection bar. The new MINI Convertible comes with a single-piece rollover protection bar behind the rear seats that spans the entire interior width of the car, without obstructing the driver’s visibility, and moves into position automatically in the event of a potential rollover.

The new MINI Convertible will be available in two engine variants. The MINI Cooper Convertible will come equipped with a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine featuring fully variable valve management for maximum output of 118 hp at 6,000 rpm. The performance-oriented MINI Cooper S Convertible will be powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with a Twin-Scroll turbocharger and direct gasoline injection delivering 172 hp at an engine speed of 5,500 rpm.

From the start, the MINI Cooper S Convertible and the MINI Cooper Convertible will be equipped with the six-speed manual gearbox featured as standard with optional six-speed automatic transmission. At the same time, the new MINI Convertible owes its nimble handling characteristics to suspension technology that has been significantly upgraded and improved over the former model. Its sophisticated wheel suspension, precise electromechanical power steering, powerful brake system and Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) – all standard features – allow the MINI convertible to set a new standard for agility and safety.

With that brief introduction, let’s raise a toast to the great memories of cartoon past…

Cartoon: Super Friends

Although Batman’s Batmobile went through more design changes then Michael Jackson (yeah, I went there) the most impressive of all the (animated) Batmobiles was the winged, wheeled avenger seen in the Super Friends cartoon. Like all the Batmobile models before it, the Super Friends Batmobile came heavily equipped with several on-board computers and a military-grade weapons artillery rivaled in coolness only by the machine-gun equipped Jeep in the The Rat Patrol.

Cartoon: The Tick

Unlike many of his superhero, comic book brethren, The Tick takes a much more environmentally, realistic approach to crime-fighting by carpooling whenever evil is afoot. Watch the video above to see The Tick use a rare moment of quiet in The Tick Mobile to explain in his own words why the superhero car is just as important as the superhero himself. Honk if you love justice!

Cartoon: Scooby Doo

As a kid I loved Scooby-Doo, but I was always mildly annoyed by the fact that Fred never seemed good for much other than making sure his ascot was always perfectly tied. My irritation with Fred as an efficient sleuth was also eased, however, when I realized that Fred was actually an integral part of Scooby’s gang. Since I suspect Shaggy was always high, without Freddy, the iconic Mystery Machine would never leave the garage, and thus it would never have become a vehicle famous for transporting the likes of everyone from the Harlem Globe Trotters to Sonny and Cher (yeah, I watched a lot of Scooby Doo).

Cartoon: Speed Racer

Although the company that oversaw the production of Speed Racer made a valiant effort to include a viable storyline in every episode, the plot was almost always the same. Inevitably, some evil force would attempt to squelch Speed Racer’s dream of, well, racing, and in order to thwart the ne’er do wells, Speed Racer would be forced to engage in an action-packed, high-intensity car race. Fortunately, the under 12 audience didn’t really care if episode 12 was not immediately distinguishable from episodes 13-86, we just wanted to see Speed Racer take the Mach-go through the jaws of animated hell again and again and again.

Comic: Wonder Woman

Despite her superior ability to fight crime and still be home in time to cook dinner for Superman, Wonder Woman was still plagued by the human inability that prevents women from driving with any sort of skill. Thus, seeking to avoid the nightmarish traffic female drivers in a hurry are wont to cause, Wonder Woman’s creators at DC Comics equipped her with the Invisible Jetplane. Acknowledging that a jetplane (even an invisible one) would be difficult to park when Wonder Woman ran to pick up the Super Friends’ dry cleaning, the Invisible Plane was also given the impressive ability to morph into whichever type of transportation Wonder Woman desired, be it a motorcycle, a submarine, or a minivan. Over the years Wonder Woman’s powers evolved to eventually include the ability to fly and the Invisible Plane began to appear less and less in the storyline.

Cartoon: Inspector Gadget

For an incredibly accident prone police detective that was probably the subject of many an internal investigation, Inspector Gadget still somehow managed to score the coolest cruiser on the force: the Gadgetmobile. The Gadgetmobile was essentially your run of the mill, totally awesome crime-fighting vehicle and as such, included the quintessential bad-guy-banishing features like a smoke screen, ejector seat, glue rockets (which were exactly what they sound like), and the Gadget Claw. All of the Gadgetmobile’s accessories (as well as the Gadgetmobile itself) could be immediately readied for use with a simple cry from the Inspector of “Go-Go Gadget [insert accessory here].” Despite Inspector Gadget’s status as the Steve Urkel of Special Ops, Inspector Gadget was still a huge favorite among elementary aged children, even if for no other reason than the extremely hilarious schoolyard chant in inspired: “Do-do-do-do-do, inspect my gad-get, do-do-do-do-do-do-doooo.”

Cartoon: The Thundercats

Ironically enough, Lion-O’s “Thundercat-mobile” made this list not because it was incredibly impressive, but rather because it wasn’t. For those of you who are old enough to remember, like every other action-packed cartoon airing at the time, Thundercats spawned its own line of action figures. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the marketing department in charge of the official Thundercats vehicle was asleep at their post, because Lion-O’s super-powered racer had about as much commercial appeal as the county school bus. Even though the Thundercats’ massive metal tank looked like it was prepared to wage serious war, it never really did much more than drive the Thundercats from point A to point B (though I do recall it made an occasional u-turn, and it did prove to have an impressively tight turning ratio). In spite of the fact that it was thoroughly unexciting, however, I still remember roughly 50% of the Talbot Park Day School kindergarten class carried a Thundercats tank-shaped thermos…go figure.

Cartoon: G.I. Joe

As far as badass quotient is concerned, the only fictional character that can even stand in G.I. Joe’s shadow is Captain America, but even the Cap’ wore a unitard. In addition to the fact that G.I. Joe was a superhero without the benefit of super powers, he also appeared to purchase his clothing from the J.C. Penny casual men’s section rather than from where all the other superhero’s apparently shop at, “Big Gay Al’s Costume Emporium.” G.I. Joe is/was a realistic hero and the fact that he was limited by the same laws of physics as his fans were made him wildly popular. In keeping with the humanistic theme, G.I. Joe’s official Jeep also spawned a legion of followers for the simple fact that all the stunts it performed on screen, it was more than capable of performing in reality as well (I mean for crying out loud, it’s a Jeep, even Chuck Norris bows his head in reverence).

Cartoon: Transformers

Oh right, as if this one needs any explaining. To summarize, this is how awesome the Transformers were: your sister has an old picture of you wearing nothing but Optimus Prime-themed tighty whities and a t-shirt that reads “More than meets the eye,” and you don’t even care when she shows it to your girlfriends.

Cartoon: Wacky Races

Inspired by the 1965 film The Great Race, the Wacky Races cartoon was essentially an animated, G-rated version of The Gumball Rally. It was a short-lived series with only 17 episodes produced with each episode featuring two separate races and the campy hi-jinks of the 23 different racers. There were 11 race cars total, and each racing team was competing against each other in pursuit of the ultimate prize, the title of “World’s Wackiest Racer.” Shying away from the typical cartoon formula, what made Wacky Races so notable was the fact that the “evil” racers were often the stars of the show, and even inspired their own spin-offs later on.

Cartoon: Jem

The plot of the cartoon Jem essentially revolved around a popstar singer, Jem, and her band, the Holograms. It was kind of like a less-slutty precursor to the Bratz musicals Nickelodeon occasionally airs today, only with significantly less blatant marketing. The typical Jem episode usually involved Jem and the Holograms competing in some manner of musical contest against their arch-rivals, the Misfits (no relation to Glen Danzig’s little freak show), and the band-on-band sabotage that inevitably ensued. Although the Misfits were supposed to be loathed by the Jem fan base, it was incredibly difficult to feign hatred for them. Not only the Misfits rock way harder then Jem and the Holograms, but they were also prone to making their grand entrance on guitar-shaped motorcycles. Hardcore chicks on hardcore bikes, what’s not to love?

Cartoon: Mr. Magoo

An oldie but goodie, most of us probably missed Mr. Magoo the first time it came around in 1949. In fact, most of us probably missed it altogether unless we had incredibly nostalgic parents who turned us on to silver screen gold mines likes Gilligan’s Island and CHiPS. Although Mr.Magoo wasn’t a cartoon that could hold our undivided attention for quite as long as the current weekend morning lineup, we did kind of get a kick out of him. In addition to the campy mischief the bumbling Magoo was prone to inspire, it was also a rare treat for us kids to have the opportunity to watch a grown-up get into more trouble tying his shoes then we did during an entire period of recess.

M.A.S.K. Mobile Armed Strike Kommand

M.A.S.K. was another one of those cartoons that sprung immediately sprung up in the ’80’s after the Federal Trade Commission deregulated children’s television in 1984 – so you know it was good. Specifically targeting American children who couldn’t wait to beg their parents for more toys, the Japanese creators of M.A.S.K did very little to disguise their obvious intent to duplicate the astronomical commercial success of the Transformers action figures. Even as a members of the non-discriminatory 12-and-under crowd, however, most kids were quick to pick up on the knock-off nature of M.A.S.K.. Despite a keen intuition that told us M.A.S.K. was really no different then our beloved Transformers, we remained enraptured just the same. I mean really, blatant market manipulation aside – can anyone among us offer a valid argument solidly refuting the badass factor of the red Chevy Camaro G3 Thunderhawk? Yes, I thought not…

Cartoon: Speed Buggy

The Speed Buggy cartoon was basically the best of two entertainment worlds: Scooby-Doo and Herbie The Love Bug. Centered around the crime-solving talking car, Speed Buggy, the cartoon itself was, quite simply, the animated version of every unrealistic quality children were prone to give their toys (::holds toy Speed Buggy upright on rear axles, bounces it up and down:: “Beep-beep! I’m here, Malibu Barbie! Don’t you shed one more tear, you just hop in and we’ll get right to work solving the case of the Haunted Dreamhouse!”

Cartoon: Biker Mice From Mars

For all those of you aged 25 years and up, unless you had a younger sibling you probably missed the Saturday morning delight that was Biker Mice From Mars. It originally aired in 1993 and followed the same anthropomorphic crime-fighting rubric that had been established by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The only remaining survivors of there Mars-based culture of Motorsports enthusiasts, Biker Mice Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie are charged with saving Chicago (and the rest of Earth) from the evil Plutarkians. The entire plot of the show was heavily based around the motorcycle culture, so not only was there an abundance of gratuitous chase and/or stunt scenes, but you also got the benefit of the ubiquitous hot female mechanic, Charlene “Charley” Davidson (get it?).

Cartoon: Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

Kids like Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors so much primarily because it was just one giant 30-minute long commercial for cool toys, literally. Created by Mattel as a support vehicle (groan) for their toy line “Wheeled Warriors”, the plot for Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors was basically identical to that of M.A.S.K., only there was even less of a story line. Since boys (and at least one girl) aged 2-10 years don’t tend to make for the most discerning audience, the show ended after running from Setp-December 1985 (as planned) and was abandoned by Mattel marketing so abruptly, it didn’t even bother to air a season finale. While Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors definitely didn’t achieve the inonic status that Transformers did, it still provided rides like “Battle Base” (pictured above) that were just as cool as Optimus Prime.

Cartoon: C.O.P.S. (Central Organization of Police Specialists)

Set in the year 2020, the cartoon C.O.P.S. only ran from 1988-89 but despite its brief run it, still managed to provide us with some of the most legendary crime fighting action vehicles of the generation. Pictured above in the lower left, The Ironsides was the official tactical assault vehicle of the C.O.P.S. unit, and was usually driven by rookie officer Hardtop, a guy who a had a crush on a network new anchor and was afraid of heights. Directly opposite The Ironsides is the Bluestreak Motorcycle. Riden by C.O.P.S. member “Highway”, a former patrolman with the San Francisco, CA Highway Patrol, the Bluestreak Motorcycle was a super-performance machine that occasionally possessed the ability to fly (depending on whether you were watching C.O.P.S. in the U.S. or in Britain). It was also perhaps the gayest thing since spandex.

Cartoon: The Ambiguously Gay Duo

TV Funhouse’s Ambiguously Gay Duo is as crime fighting cartoon as interpreted by guys who grew watching the same Saturday morning specials you did, and you also like you did, began to suspect that something was just off with the hero/sidekick relationship. Of course you don’t devote entire mornings to watching cartoons anymore (though only because your girlfriend insists on dragging you to these excruciatingly boring yard sales – but I mean what are you gonna do? She’s great in the sack…), but you do still make time for the Ambiguously Gay Duo. Not only is it vaguely nostalgic, but it also provides some validation for those many sleepless nights you spent as a kid, wrestling with the inner suspicion that despite his awesome crime fighting powers, Batman was still kind of a fruitcake.

Cartoon: Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

Calvary Command was Earth’s law enforcement arm dispatched to space in to maintain law and order in the final frontier. The Star Sheriffs were a branch of the Calvary Command, charged with battling the Command’s most formidable foe, the Outriders. The Outriders were non-human, and were thus impossible to defeat without the Saber Rider and the Star Sheriff’s secret weapon, the Ramrod Equalizer Unit. Usually referred to by the Star Sheriff’s as simply “Ramrod”, Ramrod was a specially designed craft that could transform from a space ship to a galactic crime-fighting robot in order to battle the Outsiders on equal terms.

Comic: Captain America

In stark contrast to many super heros that have reigned the animated world, Captain America is a superhero that does not have the benefit of any super powers, but he did have a super badass bike. Customized especially for Captain America by S.H.I.E.L.D. (originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division; currently stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division), the official Captain America Harley Davidson became so wildly popular as a symbol of red-blooded Americans, it very nearly eclipsed the famous G.I. Joe Jeep.