The world is filled with millions and
millions of different vehicles which are used to transport people
and cargo to far away locations - through all types of climates
and over varying terrain.
However most vehicles are actually quite similar. Most cars
have four wheels, most boats have a pointy end and a blunt end,
and most aircraft don't work well as cars. However there are
a few oddities in the world of vehicles which try to bend the
conventional rules.
Listed here are ten of the most ingenious and oddball concept
and production vehicles ever devised.
Covini
C6W
At first glance the Covini C6W almost looks like a photoshopped
Ferrari with a couple of extra wheels thrown in. It's not. It
really is as crazy as it looks.
Despite the unusual layout the manufacturer actually claims
that the six wheels offer a number of benefits over the usual
four.
The NASA AD-1 has got to be one of the craziest looking aircraft
ever to be produced. In most aircraft, if the wing swung round
to a 60 degree angle across the body, you'd be in big trouble.
However the AD-1 used this swiveling wing feature to its advantage.
The NASA AD-1 was retired after 3 years and 79 flights in 1982.
The Segway Centaur is the bigger, but much less well known relative
of the Segway
HT.
Using the same gyroscopic balancing technology featured on its
sibling, popping a wheelie on the Centaur is a safe and controlled
activity, you can even go in reverse while on two wheels!
So many people and companies over the decades have tried to
come up with viable flying cars, and almost all have failed.
And failed spectacularly at that.
The ParaJet SkyCar is a simplistic take on the whole flying
car idea. And it's this very simplicity which has made the ParaJet
SkyCar one of the only successful 'flying cars' to hit the market.
The Nike One isn't going to be hitting the streets any time
soon as its just a concept .In fact the closest thing you can
get to driving it is on Polyphony's Gran Turismo 4 driving
game.
Clever ideas which were integrated into the design of the Nike
One include a human-powered element - but it's not what you
think!
The picture pretty much says it all. The Rinspeed sQuba is a
sports car which is capable of transforming into an open-top
submersible.
Powered by electric motors, the sQuba is based on a Lotus Elise
platform which has been heavily modified to accept all the propellors
and buoyancy tanks needed to make a submarine
This weird looking vehicle is just a concept for the time being.
It was devised as a massive luxury transport vehicle for long-distance
travel over the oceans and seas of the world.
The Mobula is an ekranoplan, this is the name given to a vehicle
which is capable of flight - but relies on a phenomenon called
'ground effect' - to stay aloft.
The WAM-V Proteus is a strange looking vessel which looks like
some sort of giant water-walking spider. But it is in fact a
Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V).
Unlike conventional boats which force the water to conform to
their hull shape, the Proteus adjusts to the shape of the sea.
This means that the passengers are subjected to much less up-and-down
movement caused by wave motion.
