Happy New Year. We haven't been in business for all of 2004, so coming up with the de rigeur year-end wrapup post seemed a scutch presumptious. Having recovered from the punch in the face we just gave ourselves for using the word "scutch" in a sentence, we present 2005's Most Promising Nutjobs.
We had lots and lots of automotive-related nutjobs to choose from, most of whom received such a classification from speed-related endeavors. Others have transcended the automotive arena and created insanity where before there was none. Most are talented in mechanical fields, including engine building, sheetmetal working or welding jagged shards together in the form of a Tawianese comic-book hero. For guidance, we look to Fredo Corleone in "The Godfather," who said, "I'm smart. Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!" And respect you shall have, nutjobs.
Third runner up: Paul Moller, flying-car builder
For sinking a fortune into a dream that, after 40 years of toil, is just now showing signs it may materialize, Jalopnik awards Paul Moller the third-runner-up nutjob spot. That and two bucks to get on the subway.
The Moller Skycar: Forty Years and $70 Million Later, a Flying Car
Second runner up: Lars-Erik Fisk, sculptor
For having both the conceptual depth and technical skills to pull off one of the most perfect pieces of representational sculpture we've seen since Dave Flamberg's "Bong Wearing Sunglasses" (NYU, 1991), we award Lars-Erik Fisk second-runner-up nutjob and adjunct professor of craziness at Jalopnik U.
Wow. The VW Bus Ball. Need I say more? [MIT]
First runner up: The Nitrous-Powered Go-Ped Guys
For not only using their technical skills to turn a lowly go-ped into a monster speed machine capable of leaving a Trans-Am WS6 in the dust, but also for actually getting on the damn thing and hitting the gas, we award the Go-Ped Guys second-runner-up nutjob, as well as the Cojones Grandes award for 2004.
Trans Am WS6 vs. Nitrous-Powered Go-Ped
And the award for 2005's Most Promising Nutjob goes to: The Riot Wheel Guy
For having a potent mix of technical prowess, vehicular vision, lots of spare parts from heavy machinery and an appreciation for the joys of absurdity, we name the Riot Wheel Guy 2005's Most Promising Nutjob. We hope to see RWG soon at the Bonneville salt flats when he makes his first attempt at the speed record for a single-wheeled vehicle. Or sets one. Whichever.