The Real Acme

Iowahawk has an a great post about Turbonique Inc, a company from the 1960’s who wanted to bring jet engines & rocket technology to the consumer market – for cars. “Once upon a time in the postwar, before the advent of EPA and OSHA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission and weenies in bike helmets and multilingual warning stickers on stepladders, crazy people walked this earth. Good, fun-loving Americans who knew that “instructions” were something you threw in the trash along with the empty Falstaff bottles. A halcyon era filled with manly men who savored the wholesome virtues of a rugged game of un-seatbelted automotive chicken.” Thanks Mark! – Link.

Related:

• Mod Your Rod. James Bond depended on Q to trick out his cars. But with Make’s guide to car hacking, you’ll learn how to turn your ride into a fully loaded, grease-eating, MP3-blasting, Wi-Fi-transmitting monster machine. MAKE 03 – Page 49.
• The Jam Jar Jet. Don’t think you can build a jet engine at home? Here’s a simple jet engine–a pulsejet–that you can make out of a jam jar in an afternoon. All it takes is bending some wire and punching a few holes. MAKE 05 – Page 102.
• Lots of ways to get around, maybe – Link.