Someone built a DeLorean hovercraft due to their love of Back to the Future, and now he’s selling it on eBay.
This is not a joke. Someone, namely Matthew Riese, actually spent countless hours from his life building a replica DeLorean body shell out of styrofoam and fiberglass and then turned it into a functional hovercraft.
It all started way back in June of 2010 when Riese decided to crowdfund his pet project. Although you could say it started much earlier than that, as Riese explains his love for the flying cars in Back to the Future and complains how they don’t exist even when the future eventually arrived.
He raised a grand total of $5,644, which was apparently enough to finish his pet project in 2013.
While finding the hollowed out shell of a DeLorean might have been easier than building one from scratch, a true DeLorean body would have been made of steel and be way too heavy for it to be converted into a functioning hovercraft. Instead, Riese created his duplicate out of lightweight fiberglass and styrofoam much like an actual boat.
The DeLorean hovercraft is powered by two engines: the 36-inch pusher fan is operated by a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard commercial engine, while the 24-inch lift fan is powered by a Briggs & Stratton 875 Series engine. Both are actually lawnmower engines, although the Vanguard is for a riding mower while the 875 Series is for a push mower. Total horsepower between the two is 29 prancing ponies.
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Riese reports that he’s got about 6-8 inches of lift, which is just enough to travel over relatively flat land and water at roughly 31 mph. Because it’s a hovercraft, there’s a fair bit of water spray or dust kicked up, which the plexiglass windshield mitigates only somewhat.
It’s a cool toy to be certain, but one that Riese has evidently grown bored with. He’s looking to sell his DeLorean hovercraft on eBay to the tune of $45,000. He’s even created an advertisement of sorts on YouTube and says that 10% of all proceeds will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
So if you want a hovercraft shaped like a DeLorean, head on over to Riese’s eBay listing to check it out.
(via Autoblog)