You really should check out the monthly meetings at your local hackerspace. It’s an excellent opportunity to hear the most interesting stories. Like the tale of how the guys from Sector67 got this electric vehicle on the plane with them. Not only did it go up in the air, but they did zero planning ahead of time on how they would actually pull it off.
[Bob Baddeley] posted an album of the PRC experience at World Maker Faire. There are captions that somewhat tell the tale, but we’ll fill you in as best we can on the rest of the story behind this second car from the hackerspace — lovingly known as the Lamebourghini.
The “packing” of the vehicle didn’t start until after the time the Sector67 team planned to leave for the airport. Their main vehicle had been shipped ahead of time, but when that was boxed up this was a still a gleam in the eye of the team members. It was stripped down in a manner that would impress a big-city chop shop. The majority of the body and parts were shoved in a large suitcase by standing on the lid to get the zipper to close all the way.
The remainder of the parts were carried on and sound like an airport security nightmare. You can’t check lithium batteries, but apparently you may carry on as many as you wish with no restriction whatsoever. In addition to the batteries the team carried on the motor, the nose cone of the plastic body, and two jagged chunks of angle iron that just didn’t make it into the luggage.
Assembly was a bit of a challenge — this one is truly hacked together. Realizing it couldn’t be entered without proper brakes a bicycle was purchased in NYC off of Craig’s List as a cheap donor to satisfy the requirement. In the end it was raced alongside the Fauxrarri which let the time three-peat as champions.
If you look closely you’ll spot our own [Brian Benchoff] test driving the winning vehicle.
Filed under: Hackerspaces
