Steampunk my Ride!
How about a few Steampunked Rides?
Lets start with something that actually was designed and manufactured by an automaker – The Leyat Helica:
Leyat was a French automobile manufacturer established by Marcel Leyat in 1919. The first model was called Hélica, also known as ‘The plane without wings’. The passengers sat behind each other as in an aircraft. The vehicle was steered using the rear wheels and the car was not powered by an engine turning the wheels, but by a giant propeller powered by an 8 bhp engine. The entire body of the vehicle was made of wood and weighed just 250 kg (550 lb), which made it dangerously fast. In 1927, A Hélica reached the speed of 106 mph at the Monthley race track. Leyat continued to experiment with his Helica, he tried using propellers with two and four blades. Between 1919 and 1925, Leyat managed to sell 30 vehicles.
Next up – The Neverwas Haul:
Completely insane. It’s a Victorian house on wheels. Clearly the product of altered mind states, or simply lots of wood and Red Bull, this creation of The Berkeley Academy of Unnatural Sciences could only have been created for one purpose: to be the best Burning Man vehicle of all time. Fair to say, it’s succeeded.
Finally, for something completely different, the “Legway” – a steampunk Segway.
Both brilliant and almost completely impractical, it also oozes with steampunk style. Just look at the thing! Impossible to turn, slower and more difficult than walking, and though it’s very existence a biting piece of social commentary.Well Done, That Man!
