This three-wheel, two seat “motorcycle” is created by the Canadian auto/bike manufacturer Campagna Corporation in Quebec. Although the T-Rex is classified as a motorcycle, with the an altered seating position and the angle of the steering wheel, along with the suspension, makes it feel and drive more like a sportscar. The interior has two seats with three point retractable seatbelts and is protected with a tubular steel roll cage for maximum safety and protection. With a 1.4 L, four cylinder engine, the T-Rex can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 157 mph. The amazing acceleration is due to the streetbike technology available today that Campagna uses to their advantage. This motorcycle has been in production since the mid 1990’s however they’ve just recently gained recognition and popularity due to some television shows such as MTV’s Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, where it is possible to see a white T-Rex in use. The three wheeled monster is available at the suggested retail price of $43,190 and can be purchased directly from http://www.campagnamotors.com/. For the average person who wants the thrill of driving a motorcycle but is looking for a little more safety and security, the Campagna T-Rex is waiting for you.
CT&T, a car manufacturer coming out of Korea, debut their four-passenger Multi Amphibious Vehicle(MAV) at the Detroit Auto Show. This car is suitable to traverse on both land and water, and what’s this???? It’s electric. Sounds about as safe as taking a bath with a toaster or hair dryer. However this six wheeled machine is powered by the electric motor when on the road and that same motor powers the propellers when in water. The electri motor can get the MAV up to speeds of 40 mph on land and a reported top speed of 10 mph in water. The performance from this vehicle can not be considered out of this world, or even James Bondish, but for a family vacation this might be the type of enterainment we are all looking for. What this vehicle does not have is a roof, something usefull on a rainy day, or high sides/doors to keep the younger part of the family in the vehicle. There hasn’t been a price tag put on the MAV yet, but one of its sister vehicles that was introduced at the same time, the C Square, an electric sports car, was priced at $50,000. Expect a similar price for the Multi Amphibious Vehicle.
The good folks at Hemmings have been following the auction of a famous collection of toys (formerly owned by Donald Kaufman, a co-founder of K-B Toys) including a lot of rare, obscure, and generally boring looking toy cars. But here’s the good part – the toy cars brought $4.2 million. That’s 2.8 Bugatti Veyron 16.4’s!
I have a special place my heart for scrap yards, having worked at one for a few years. So I’m a fan of anything salvage-related. The carnage of ripping things apart can only be topped by putting those bits back together in a strange way, and making them work.
The artists of Transmutant are definitely salvage-related. They’re like a bizarre Euro version of a Burning Man version of Junkyard Wars. That’s a triple combination I can get into.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a big fan of not dying in violent accidents. So I’m very keen on any kind of new techno-gadgetry that can keep my soft organic bits intact in the unfortunate event of a high speed impact. Things like air-bag jackets, and high end helmets are very useful for my particular fetish of avoiding horrible and painful death.
But there’s high end, and there’s “high end”, right? The Lazer SuperSkin helmet supposedly takes the protection to another level. I’m already sold by the fact that they spelled Lazer with a Z instead of with the traditional S. It shows they defy convention. Also, the video has a British doctor and slow motion test films. Check it:
Effective February 10, 2009, any and all children’s motorcycles and ATVs are now illegal in the land of the free and the home of the frightened. Thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, off-road motorcycles and ATVs intended for anyone 12 years old and under are now illegal, because their batteries contain lead and apparently, children love to eat motorcycle batteries.
This law shuts the door on a multi-million dollar industry that was one of the few actually thriving in this recessionary environment. The law says not even used bikes can be sold… or given away to anyone 12 or under. This means a 20% drop in the already troubled motor vehicle industry and it’s related parts sales businesses. Ironically, the under 12 market was the only part of that business actually doing well.
The hot rod revival movement has finally extended from the traditional 40s and 50s cars into the sci-fi 60s moonpods this year. The bubble top is back, so they say, and Aaron Grote decided to build one of his own. But instead of mimicking the existing Ed Roth machines that are all now in private collections, he just used the cars of that era as inspiration. Thus was born the Atomic Punk.
“It took a lot of time and effort, and I ran out of money on it several times. I had to sell a couple of my cars and a kidney to get the money to finish it, but when I finally got to get in it and do that big smoky burnout, I think it was worth it.” This car is more than just Ed Roth-esque, it’s David Lee Roth-esque: where do you think he got the name Atomic Punk?
Let’s say you’re an ultra-wealthy international man-about-town. You’ve had several altercations with Afghani heroin salesmen and Turkish middlemen, and now you fear for your life. What is the only sensible thing to do in that situation? That’s right, you purchase a completely handbuilt; fully-armored; biofuel powered; 7-and-a-half foot tall SUV for $300,000 dollars. You know, for safety. Luckily, Conquest Vehicles has just such an SUV…The Knight XV
This machine is apparently built around the Ford Super Duty platform, and has the Ford 6.8L V10 under the hood too. Think of it as a Ford Excursion with about 4,000 pounds of armor plate jammed into every little in-between space. The people at Conquest say this SUV was inspired by the Gurkha military vehicle, although I’m pretty sure the Nepalese Gurkha don’t have Wilton Wool carpeting, Andrew Muirhead leather, laptop stations, TVs, and a PlayStation 3 in their truck. Then again, who knows.
Check out the official press release and some pics:
During an apparently routine search through eBay for miniature toy cars (hey, I’m not judging: “Let he who is without an extensive eBay buying history cast the first stone”), Jalopnik et al stumbled upon a Hot Wheels model that is being hawked as a genuine replica of the new, 2010 Mustang. While it’s admittedly easy for anyone with access to a decent hobby store and plenty of free time on their hands to produce a pretty damn good replica, there’s reason to believe this particular 2010 Mustang Hot Wheels is legit. Aside from the fact that the toy car is a dead ringer for the 2010 Mustang renderings Jalopnik themselves created, the seller’s location indicates the mini horse is located in Malaysia – current home of the Mattel Hot Wheels production plant.
