Deep down, every adult male is a kid who wants to be Batman. This is an undeniable truth. What’s equally undeniable is that virtually all adult males (Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale et al aside) never manage to realise this ambition. One major obstacle to this ambition is often the lack of a Batmobile. Well, now you can leap over that obstacle as if you were swinging on a Batrope with the fully-functional Replica Batmobile from Firebox.com.

This is a custom built and officially licensed replica of the awesome and entirely un-ridiculous 60s Adam West Batmobile. It comes with a Bat-steering wheel, Bat-wheels with Bat-hubcaps, a Bat-fire-extinguisher, and just about Bat-everything. It also has a Bat-exhaust which, yes, does shoot flames.

This won’t have to languish in your Batcave either, as it’s fully operational, road-worthy and does 0-60 in 5 seconds. It also comes with an automatic gearbox, so you can concentrate on solving crimes instead of the conundrum of what gear you should be in.

If the $190K price-tag is a little steep, then why not go halves with Robin?

Sometimes you just have to transport things that won’t fit in your car – Christmas tree, Aunt Ethel’s recliner, Aunt Ethel. The Inflatable Roof Rack makes moving these super large items (sorry, Auntie) a piece of cake.

Plug the included 12-volt electric pump into your car’s DC adapter to inflate the PVC bladders, toss them on the car (gently – don’t scratch the paint) and tuck the double straps on the ends of the supports inside the windows. The roof rack cinches down tight with the sturdy ABS buckles inside the car, providing peace of mind that your load isn’t going anywhere.

The rack provides 30.5-inches of width for items up to 150 lbs, which can be tied down using the five metal D-rings stitched into the support’s covers (tie-downs not included), and the roof rack can be deflated and tucked out of sight in its storage bag when not being used.

Have the cargo-hauling capability of a truck, without getting rid of your car for $149.95 over at Hammacher Schlemmer.

The 4000 Watt Roadster is a two-person electric car from the gadget geniuses at Hammacher Schlemmer. With a top speed of 25mph and 60 miles per charge, this sporty little vehicle would be great for running errands around town – whilst doing your bit for the environment in comfort and style.

Featuring an automatic transmission, independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, a steel body frame and doors that are open to the air, the 4000 Watt Roadster would be perfect for zipping about more temperate climes and includes plenty of space in the back for your golf clubs or groceries.

To recharge the batteries, simply plug the car into a standard household wall outlet overnight and it will be fully charged and ready to roll by the morning. While not as fast as a Tesla Roadster, this Roadster is available right now (no painfully long waiting lists) and costs a lot less.

Available in Red, Blue, Black and Yellow, the 4000 Watt Roadster is available at Hammacher Schlemmer for $13,000.

Source:
Hammacher Schlemmer

The CarGo is an interesting concept for an urban delivery vehicle that rethinks pickup design, adding a truckload of flexibility. The vehicle can transform into either compact mode, narrow mode or pick-up truck mode, adjusting to the volume and type of cargo you’re carrying.

The CarGo pickup truck is clever in that its design allows for capacious cargo space when required, but once goods have been delivered the vehicle can be shrunken to almost half the size – reducing its footprint on city streets.

Even when in compact mode, the transforming battery-powered utility can be used to store small items in the vertical tray, thanks to a built-in shelving system. The CarGo’s narrow mode is designed for quick deliveries in heavy traffic, featuring banking corner action that handles more like a delivery motorcycle than a van or truck. Also, when not in use, the storage compartment can be removed altogether to further reduce the vehicle’s size and weight.

Designed by Adam Schacter, the CarGo, like the Cargonaut and Cargo Scooter concepts we’ve seen previously, is a fascinating look at design ideas that may one day help improve congestion on our city streets.

Sources:
CarGo via Yanko Design

Tesla Motors yesterday officially unveiled a new prototype electric sedan that the company hopes will hit the market in 2011, priced at less than half of the base cost of the company’s troubled Tesla Roadster.

The Tesla Model S Sedan is expected to have a ticket price of $49,900 when production begins in Q3 2011 and will feature a 300-mile range, an improvement over the company’s Roadster by 80-miles. The sedan features a 45-minute fast (partial) charge capability and will fetch a 0-60mph time of just 5.5-seconds.

The company plans to release 20,000 units per year and to lease the battery packs to their customers, which should alleviate motorist concerns about the expensive batteries dying after just a few short years. The car itself will be covered by a 3 to 4 year warranty also.

Inside, the Model S sports 2 LCD displays. One of them is for the gauges behind the steering wheel and the other, a huge full touchscreen in the center console (image below). The car will apparently be a seven-seater too, with 2 seats folded into the trunk that flip up when needed – though they’re probably only large enough for children or pets.

Lets hope Tesla can pull this one off, as it could come close to bringing all-electric motoring to the masses at this price-point.

Sources:
Jalopnik and Gizmodo

In what is one hellofa training project, 150 students at Daimler AG have put together a concept car called the Mercedes F-CELL, which marries high-tech roadster engineering with the charm of early horseless carriages.

The F-CELL was inspired by the very first Benz motor car, which dates back to 1886, but is powered by a hybrid-drive system that apparently makes use of a modern, emission-free fuel cell.

Mercedes claims their joystick-controlled vehicle could be the car of the future, which, with a top speed of 15.5mph, really makes me hope they’re wrong. The car has a range of 220 miles and has apparently taken a year to progress through development to construction and finally, to completion.

The roadster incorporates drive-by-wire steering and carbon-fiber bucket seats with hand-stitched leather coverings – just as you’d expect from Mercedes. The design also features a fiberglass nose inspired by the F1 circuit and if that can’t make it go any faster, I doubt painting it red will help much either. Terrific eye-candy, but we all know hubless wheels are the future.

Source:
Daily Mail

Toyota are apparently developing a new version of their great little MR2 sports car, that ended production back in 2007. This comeback model will be in the form of a compact coupe, rather than the roadster style of its predecessor and will feature a specially developed version of the hybrid powertrain from Toyota’s Prius.

The car aims to blend the sports-like performance of the original MR2 with economy and low emissions, presumably to fit with our modern environmental zeitgeist. Obviously sensitive to our current economic climate also, the car is expected to be priced at just £20,000 | $29,000 – only a small premium over Toyota’s boxy Prius and less than a quarter of the cost of Tesla’s Roadster.

The new MR2 is said to include steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, get 0-60MPH in around 7 seconds, emit less than 100g/km of CO2 and return 60mpg.

This is a smart move by Toyota, who could be missing out on a large share of the motor market by focusing so heavily on conservatively styled, family-oriented vehicles.

Sources:
AutoExpress via Jalopnik

Remember Terrafugia’s Transition Flying Car we saw back in December? Well, today the company let us all in on details about a successful first test flight that took place earlier this month. The achievement brings our dreams of a production flying car that much closer to reality, even if the $194,000 price tag prevents most of us from ever owning one.

The official first flight took place at Plattsburgh International Airport on March 5th 2009 and was accompanied by a more traditional chase aircraft (image below). The two-seater is able to fly 450 miles at a speed of 115MPH and runs on regular unleaded, that can be topped up at any gas station.

When on the road, the craft uses a front-wheel-drive system which can achieve and maintain highway speeds. When in the air, the craft relies on a propeller mounted on the rear for propulsion. The whole transformation process from car to plane, or vise versa, takes a single pilot less than 30 seconds, making it a extremely flexible machine indeed.

For those who can afford to own one of these amazing roadable aircraft, you can still place a deposit of $10,000 at Terrafugia’s site.

I wonder how the Moller SkyCar is getting on?

Source:
Jalopnik (w/Press Release)

The impressive Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport will be going on sale this week, officially making it the world’s fastest convertible. With a top speed of 407kmh (252mph) it tops the former record holder, Ferrari’s Scuderia Spider 16M, by 92kmh (57mph).

The powerful 1,001HP roadster boasts a 0-100km/h (0-62mph) time of just 2.5 seconds and, as you’d hope, comes fitted with ceramic brakes for cool, controlled stops from high speeds. These impressive speeds are achievable when the convertible’s polycarbonite roof is fitted, but is engineered with drag reduction in mind – fetching as much as 360kph/224mph with the roof off. If you don’t care for the hassle of a rigid roof, Bugatti have come up with a unique umbrella-like cover (video below) that will protect the interior from the rain and fold back down in a snap.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport’s chassis and panels are made from both carbon fiber and aluminum, in a complex re-engineering of the coupe model to maintain crash protection with the roof-less structure. The tires for the car were made specially by Michelin to withstand the high temperatures generated at its high speeds. They will apparently cost €13,500 | $17,000 | £12,000 to replace.

Only 150 examples of this €1.4 | $1.75 | £1.25 million supercar will be made, with around 40 to 50 going to registered Bugatti owners. Unlike with Shelby’s Ultimate Aero, Bugatti are sticking to their old-school roots and will not be releasing an electric version, despite the price tag.

Sources:
Bugatti and Gizmag and Autoblog

It’s not like we haven’t seen ocean inspired concepts or flying cars before, but this design by Kazim Doku called the Audi Shark really gets your motor running. Seemingly inspired by the sleek yet powerful appearance of sharks, it won the 2008 Desire Design Competition at Domus Academy and looks like it would be just at home under the water, as well as in the sky for which it was designed.

The Audi Shark’s most striking feature is arguably the headlights and taillights, which are simply transparent tubes with embedded LEDs. Not too practical for the real world, but hey, neither are hover cars…yet.

The Shark has enough room inside to seat two and comes complete with a set of horizontal fins on the back to complete the look…or perhaps even trigger a modernized 50s/60s fin revival.

Wondering how you get in? Check out the video below.

Sources:
CarBodyDesign via LikeCool