DeLoreans have achieved a near-mythical status as a pop culture icon and with car enthusiasts alike because of its gullwing doors and its role in Back to the Future. One of the coolest parts in the second movie is when the DeLorean flew through the air, but that wasn’t real. Movies tend to be fantasy, you see. But this DeLorean does fly, sort of. It hovers. It’s a hovercraft. And it’s for sale.
There is a DeLorean hovercraft listed on Ebay right now for $45,000. The first thing to note is this is not an actual DeLorean body strapped to a hovercraft; the seller crafted the body from styrofoam wrapped in fiberglass and painted it with metallic paint.
So you see, much like movies, nothing is real.
The hovercraft itself is created from blueprints for the Universal Hovercraft UH-13PT. There’s a 36-inch thrust fan that’s powered by a 23-horsepower engine. And the 24-inch lift fan is powered by a push mower engine. “The hull of the craft hovers about six to eight inches over the surface,” wrote the seller, “and can hover over anything relatively flat: land, water, ice, snow, sand, asphalt, etc. The top speed with the current thrust configuration is 31 mph on the water in good conditions.”
Here are a few other things the seller noted:
- The more weight aboard, the slower it will accelerate, which is a general rule for life
- If you’re driving it on land, it has to be completely free of obstacles and cars
- It’s loud
- You will get wet in the cockpit while on water
- No reverse thrusters
- Rinse it off after use in salt water
- Don’t leave it out in direct sunlight, as the plastic can warp
- Not a time machine
That last one was me. It’s probably obvious to you, but I just wanted to cover everything. You never know what people might think.
Ten percent of the sale of the DeLorean hovercraft will be put towards the Michael J. Fox Foundation of Parkinson’s Research.
You can see technical information here.
And a highlight reel here.
Buy this if you’re pissed off about Carl, who lives around the corner. Carl was showing off his new 4-Series convertible to the neighbors the other day. Carl thinks he’s hot shit. Carl ain’t shit. Carl won’t buy a DeLorean hovercraft because he’s mainstream. You will, because you have imagination and originality.
Be better than Carl.
(h/t to TPP!)