Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

sfbay.craigslist.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 109 posts

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#81

Post by pixelpoet »

nuclear_eclipse wrote: post #44
oedoedxef wrote: post #33

I'm all for awesome engineering projects, in which this project is not deficient, however if this thing can be street legal then I don't understand why so many other cars are not allowed to be. Even when this thing is working as intended. it's shooting hot flames out the back.

Most laws around street legality center around certification of the chassis, safety equipment, and emissions. Don't run the jet engine during a smog test, and prove that all the necessary safety equipment function (signals, airbags, seatbelts, etc), and you're going to pass. This is why most kit cars depend on a "donor" chassis that gets stripped down and have the new car built on top of.

> Don't run the jet engine during a smog test

You wouldn't happen to work for a large German automotive company with the letters V and W in the name, would you?

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#84

Post by jordache »

oedoedxef wrote: post #33

I'm all for awesome engineering projects, in which this project is not deficient, however if this thing can be street legal then I don't understand why so many other cars are not allowed to be. Even when this thing is working as intended. it's shooting hot flames out the back.

well this jet car is also street legal

https://www.motor1.com/news/131074/jay-leno-ecojet-window-lo...

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#85

Post by marzell »

oedoedxef wrote: post #33

I'm all for awesome engineering projects, in which this project is not deficient, however if this thing can be street legal then I don't understand why so many other cars are not allowed to be. Even when this thing is working as intended. it's shooting hot flames out the back.

I'd imagine the majority of cases involve modifications to the existing powertrain and drivetrain, which is highly regulated in California. I think since the original engine is intact and (probably?) unmodified, it can be street legal as long as the jet isn't actually operating.

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#86

Post by beloch »

"It can be a little windy inside with the jet engine running but not too bad. "

Now that is an understatement. Despite all the (self-described) obsessive engineering that went into this, the driver of this beast has the intake of a GE T58-8F helicopter turbine engine less than two feet from their head. HELL NO.

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#87

Post by userbinator »

dubcanada wrote: post #15
bahador wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're seeing this message, that means JavaScript has been disabled on your browser, please enable JS to make Imgur work. You need js to view a png. What a time to be alive.

No you need JS to view the site, to view the image just go to https://i.imgur.com/zM5gMjt.png (add i. before imgur)

They are doing some sneaky (and IMHO rather abusive) user-agent sniffing --- change your UA header to some old or obscure browser and you will get the PNG as desired.

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#88

Post by markkanof »

soperj wrote: post #74
oedoedxef wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've also seen a mini-cooper on youtube with a jet in the back doing the same thing on the highway :)

It might be cool from an engineering perspective, but it's fucking stupid from a "there are other people on the road who's lives are now in danger" perspective.

Maybe. There are certainly places where you can find long straight runs of highway with no on ramps. Do that in the middle of the night and you are unlikely to encounter another vehicle.

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#89

Post by dotancohen »

pixelpoet wrote: post #81
nuclear_eclipse wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most laws around street legality center around certification of the chassis, safety equipment, and emissions. Don't run the jet engine during a smog test, and prove that all the necessary safety equipment function (signals, airbags, seatbelts, etc), and you're going to pass. This is why most kit cars depend on a "donor" chassis that gets stripped down and have the new car built on top of.

> Don't run the jet engine during a smog test You wouldn't happen to work for a large German automotive company with the letters V and W in the name, would you?

Actually, the jet-powered car in question does just so happen to have those two letters adorning its crest.

Re: Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle – $550k (sunnyvale)

#90

Post by VectorLock »

tesseract wrote: post #47
the_only_law wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An awesome thing in the Bay-Area is all the insane stuff you get on eBay and Craigslist. I don't browse craiglist much, but I buy a bunch of retro computing / telecom / lab equipment stuff on ebay and the coolest stuff is always local pickup only on the west coast I swear.

This varies by industry of course... the Bay Area is definitely the best place to score computing and electronics related stuff. But southern CA has way more aerospace stuff, New England (especially CT and MA) have a lot of precision instrumentation and manufacturing equipment, and for stuff like robots and heavy duty metalworking machinery you really want to be in the Rust Belt.

I haven't found much precision instrumentation or manufacturing stuff on MA craigslist. The MIT Swap Meet used to be THE place for that thing but the past couple years I've gone its all junk. I wonder if there is a new venue to find those things?
Post reply on HN