# Jet Powered VW Beetle! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2006, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067 "2006-08-17T09:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/1 "2006-08-17T09:49:29Z")
[This is what happens when engineers get bored.](http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com/) > [@](#): > > This is a my street-legal jet car on full afterburner. The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back. The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine). The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible. With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design a street-legal jet car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past - because no one has. Interestingly, he doesn’t have any photos of him driving it down the road with the turbine running. Still, I bet it’s a blast to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/2 "2006-08-17T10:02:16Z")
I have two questions: 1: Where’s the reverse gear, huh? 2: How the buggery sod can this be ‘street legal’, when it produces an eight-foot tongue of white-hot flame at waist level? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/3 "2006-08-17T10:24:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I have two questions: 1: Where’s the reverse gear, huh? 2: How the buggery sod can this be ‘street legal’, when it produces an eight-foot tongue of white-hot flame at waist level? [/QUOTE] Well, it’s still got a normal motor and transmission. He only engages the jet when cops aren’t around (or he’s ditching them) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/4 "2006-08-17T10:32:29Z")
[QUOTE=Eleusis] Well, it’s still got a normal motor and transmission. [/quote] Ah, got it. > [@](#): > > He only engages the jet when cops aren’t around (or he’s ditching them) Hmmm… “It’s street-legal, officer, because I only ever use it when I’m trying to evade the police!”. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/5 "2006-08-17T12:35:27Z")
I’m thinking…Photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/6 "2006-08-17T12:55:22Z")
Back when I had a Chevy Sprint, I often wished for a supplemental turbine in the back to get up the hill by Vasquez Rocks. Nothing quite that big though. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/7 "2006-08-17T13:11:21Z")
I bet this mod voids his power train warranty. Good luck with getting it serviced with any authorized VW dealer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/8 "2006-08-17T13:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I’m thinking…Photoshop. [/QUOTE] What, the whole thing? No way. The flames in the afterburner pics, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/9 "2006-08-17T13:15:50Z")
And one other thing… The air intake for the jet engine is inside the cabin. - It ‘gets a bit windy’ when you power it up. Wuh Duh Fuh? Surely some kind of intake ducts are in order; at the moment, if you run it with the windows shut, it will suck your eyeballs out of their sockets (or implode the windows, or just stall). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/10 "2006-08-17T16:44:44Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I’m thinking…Photoshop. [/QUOTE] Nope. A buddy of mine caught a program on the car on Speed a few weeks back. The guy said that he took it to a car show and everything was fine until he fired the turbine up. At that point, the show heads told him to get the hell out of there. ---
**Author:** ![934spe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/9/90db22/32.png) [@934spe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/934spe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/11 "2006-08-17T18:48:50Z")
I like the comment about being a hybrid and driving in the HOV lane… ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/12 "2006-08-17T19:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] And one other thing… The air intake for the jet engine is inside the cabin. - It ‘gets a bit windy’ when you power it up. Wuh Duh Fuh? Surely some kind of intake ducts are in order; at the moment, if you run it with the windows shut, it will suck your eyeballs out of their sockets (or implode the windows, or just stall). [/QUOTE] I was thinking the same thing. 11,000+ CFM is more than ‘a little windy’ ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/13 "2006-08-17T19:44:56Z")
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308] I was thinking the same thing. 11,000+ CFM is more than ‘a little windy’ [/QUOTE] The OP said that there’s no pics of him going down the road while the turbine is running. Now, imagine that this thing’s air intake might have the suction of an A7 Intruder. Then, what happened to the driver would be obvious. He was composted, through the engine, and is now fertilizing wildflowers over a 5 mile stretch of highway. :eek: “We’re off…To the Buscemi-Mobile!!!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/14 "2006-08-17T20:37:20Z")
A jet-powered Beetle hasn’t been done to my knowledge, but a rocket-powered one has. Behold the awe and majesty that is [Turbonique](http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/04/the_real_acme.html). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jet-powered-vw-beetle/369067/15 "2006-08-18T08:10:09Z")
Whoa! Thanks for that link! I’m always on the look out for odd-ball automotive things.