Hasta La Gadget!

Check out the image below and look at it closely. It’s an old and blurry image in black and white from the 60′s, but you can see clearly that is a Ford Mustang on top of New York City’s iconic Empire State building. The car was put up there as an advertising stunt to celebrate the launch of the original 1965 Mustang convertible.

If you are wondering how the car got up there, engineers took the car apart into three major chunks and reassembled it on the observation deck of the building. Ford plans to recreate this marketing stunt for the all-new 2015 Mustang convertible.

The new Mustang will be carried up the elevator as well and sit atop the observation deck of the building for two days during the New York Auto show this April. The engineers are still working out how exactly they will take the much larger modern Mustang apart and reassemble it on top of the building with only a 6-hour window of opportunity.

If you’re fortunate enough to be in town between April 16th and 17th, the car will be on display from 8am to 2am on the building’s observation deck.

[via USA Today]

Want a scooter that gives you storage space and an eco-friendly ride? Try the FEDDZ scooter. It was designed and built by Germany’s Emo-Bike and has an interesting design. It uses an electric motor built into the wheel hub, which leaves that hole in motorbike’s frame free to store your stuff.

Now you can ride a scooter and bring your groceries home. No need to have a basket on the handlebars anymore. You get 23 liters of storage in all. This scooter comes in two versions with 48-volt lithium-ion batteries. The larger option delivers up to a 68-mile range on a seven hour charge, with a top speed of about 28 mph.

You’ll pay for that storage though. Prices start at just under $8,400(USD). For that price just get a decent used car with a trunk.

[via Gizmag via Gizmodo]

One of the coolest things about Batman is all his gadgets. I particularly like the gadgets that he had to play with in the Dark Knight trilogy like the Batpod and Tumbler. Inspired by the Bat’s wonderful toys, a dad made a really cool Batpod for his kids.

But unlike the bike in the movies, this Batpod is sized for the man’s 10 and 12-year-old boys to enjoy. The bike uses an Alltrax AXE 4844 controller running a Mars ME0709 electric motor, and the Batpod is powered by a quartet of lead-acid batteries from a car. I think I would worry about those lead-acid batteries in a vehicle that is destined to spend lots of time tossed on its side. The power system has a maximum of 50 volts and the bike can hit speeds of 37mph.

Check out the videos to see the bike in action along with some kids that aren’t big on safety gear other than a helmet.

[via Nerd Approved]

If I had to fight off hordes of zombies, I’d want a good car that could quickly escape, and could also keep me out of harm’s way from the biters. And while the forecast has yet to be cloudy with a chance of walkers, it’s still never too early to prepare for our eventual demise at the hands of these mutants. These guys in Russia seem to have a good head start.

This insane vehicle apparently started out as a Nissan Maxima, but with a little nip here and tuck there in some 3D modeling software – and a whole lot of metal bending and welding, it sure doesn’t look like a Nissan anymore. Actually, if you stand back and squint really hard, it looks kind of like a massive VW Beetle.

Those giant tires and its 1.7 ton curb weight should be perfect for driving over mounds of zombies lining the road, if not right over piles of abandoned vehicles on the roads.

The vehicle was posted for sale for 1.5 million rubles (~$41,689 USD) last year, but I don’t know if it ever sold. Guess I’ll just have to build my own.

[via English Russia via SPLOID]

Volvo is a car company that has built its reputation around on safety for the most part. The company is talking a bit about its new in-car experience and that experience revolves around a big touchscreen. I happen to think this is a bad idea for safety.

While touchscreens look cool and modern, anyone who has driven in a vehicle where the physical buttons have been replaced with touch will tell you that touch is not as easy to use while driving as old-fashioned buttons and knobs. With a touch system, you have to take your eyes off the road and look at what you are pressing.

Stealing a page from Tesla, Volvo is using a big tablet-like touchscreen in the center console to replace the buttons and switches we are used to.  The screen is in portrait mode and each section has its own theme with navigation at the top. While the new UI certainly makes for a clean look, usability might suffer.

Perhaps Volvo has figured out how to make its system easy to use without constantly looking at it, we will have to wait and see.