Three Cars You Won't Find at BigBucksAuto

In our ever-changing world technology has really come a long way.  I remember as a child seeing how far the cordless phone from the kitchen wall could go and still work.  It made it almost out to the end of the driveway.  Suddenly there were car phones and people could make a call on thestreet.  And of course the logical metamorphosis ends with today’s cell phones that can receive calls in the middle of a forest.  Obviously communications have come the farthest the quickest.  But music came to mind too, especially when the other day I couldn’t find my Ipod and I had to relegate myself to searching through the CD cabinet.  I think in the grand scheme of things, cars are in the midst of their revolution right now.

The Terrafugia Transition – The Flying Car

Picture Credit to ABC News

Many futuristic movies contain scenes that involve flying cars, like the Delorean from “Back to the Future.”  “The Jetsons” are also a great example.  This must point to the fact that someday we will all be flying in our cars instead of driving them and that road construction, and traffic will fortunately be a thing of the past.  Well, this concept is getting closer and closer to reality as the Terrafugia Transition makes its way to the road/air. The world’s first flying car just jumped its first hurdle; the FAA accepted the vehicle’s weight.  It’s a big deal because the weight of a flying vehicle determines what class it is in.  “Light sports aircraft” are required by the FAA to weigh in at the most 1,320 pounds and the Transition was given a 110-pound exemption.  This categorization is important because an operator of a light sports aircraft only needs 20 hours of logged flight time which makes obtaining a pilot’s license a lot easier than the next weight class.  Only a few more hurdles exist and this car will be on the road; some say by the end of 2011.  Who knows, ten years from now, we may see as many folded-up wings on the road as we now see airplanes in the sky.

Gibbs Aquada – The Amphibious Car

Picture Credit to Gibbs Technology

Though Gibbs Technologies is running into regulation issues, the first massively produced amphibious car is also close to getting on the road too.  To put it best, I will quote Zach Bowman from Autoblog: “the main issue seems to be that regulatory bodies want the car to conform to safety and emissions standards for both cars and boats. Unfortunately, those two worlds aren’t exactly compatible. For starters, the EPA wants the Aquada to use a standard catalytic converter. Unfortunately, the emissions equipment needs to operate at close to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit – nearly 1,200 degrees more than what the U.S. Coast Guard allows.” Hopefully the EPA will get over this and lend a hand to this project; much like the FAA did for the Transition.  One unique thing about this car is that the steering wheel is in the middle of the dash board, and not on the left side.  The driver’s seat is in the middle of the car with two passenger seats located next-to and behind the driver.  Also, there are no doors, you jump in the car Dukes of Hazard style. I would love to own a car that doubles as a boat.  Though the vehicle will be pricey, there wouldn’t be a need for owners to buy a boat, a trailer, a vehicle strong enough to tow it, or pricey water’s-edge docking space.

The Tesla Roadster 2.5 – The Electric Car

Picture Credit to Tesla Motors

This car is already here and on the road.  Why you haven’t seen it yet is because there are only a few prototypes in the USA.  Another reason is because there are very few recharging stations in the USA.   The Tesla Roadster 2.5 is the younger brother of the 2.0 but it comes with many improvements garnered from customer feed back.  The big statistic is that the car has a 245 mile range, much further than other all-electric cars.  The Nissan Leaf’s range is only 200 miles.  Recharging is as easy as plugging it into your wall.  There are some fun, impressive stats too.  This car can go from 0-60 in 3.7 seconds which is faster than the Porsche GT3 RS or Ferrari 430 F1.  The car is practically silent.  At the end of the day though, this car is rather pricey.  We are talking about hundred thousand dollars or so.  As all technology does though, it will become cheaper and more plentiful in the future.

The Car Revolution

This all adds up to one thing for me – the car revolution has begun, and we moving quickly.  We are literally reinventing the wheel here, especially in the case of the Aquada, where the wheels fold up and under the car for better hydrodynamics.  So to all of the people who thought it would never happen, “Back to the Future” is becoming more and more like reality.  Perhaps soon some one will invent a time machine too!