# Most interesting car ever seen on the road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198 "2021-07-24T15:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/1 "2021-07-24T15:41:41Z")
Cars today are designed by the laws of aerodynamics yielding a parabolic sameness to their profiles. In another time car designs were driven by other, sometimes fanciful, goals. There were home builts and customs and futuristic prototypes. What is the most interesting car you have ever seen on the road? For me it was the 1933 [_Dymaxion_](https://automotivehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dynamixion_car_by_Buckminster_Fuller_1933_side_views.jpg). I saw it every morning while waiting for my ride on E 14th in Oakland CA. It was probably Dymaxion number 3 that is rumored to have been scrapped in the 1950s. I saw it in 1951. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/2 "2021-07-24T16:17:55Z")
Not nearly as interesting as the Dymaxion, at least not in an of itself, but I recently moved to a university town in North Carolina. The first week we met with a couple of my wife’s new colleagues including her boss, who drove a restored [Citroën DS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_DS) with a green paint job. A few days later we were driving on the highway and ahead of us we see what from the rear looked very similar to the Citroën DS, but it was red, and was pulling a trailer with a sailing dinghy. My wife says, is that professor NN?, and I said, it’s the wrong color, but it’s a weird coincidence still. Then my wife stepped on the gas, passed the car and … turns out the guy collects Citroëns. Admittedly not as spectacularly different as a Dymaxion, but still distinct enough to pick out of a crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/3 "2021-07-24T16:20:24Z")
Hey, it’s not a contest. A guy who collects Citroens is interesting! ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/4 "2021-07-24T16:47:20Z")
When I was a kid I saw an [Amphicar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar) heading into a body of water near Detroit, maybe Lake St. Clair. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/5 "2021-07-24T17:22:28Z")
The Dick Dastardly Mean Machine from _Wacky Races_, which the police had pulled over for something. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/6 "2021-07-24T17:46:22Z")
The [rocket car](https://www.google.com/search?q=euclid+beach+rocket+car&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjX0KyMofzxAhVCK80KHTVnC_MQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1196&bih=1124), from the late great Euclid Beach Amusement Park. A number of years ago one of them was often parked in the driveway next door. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/7 "2021-07-24T17:50:06Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > When I was a kid I saw an [Amphicar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar) heading into a body of water near Detroit, maybe Lake St. Clair. I saw an Amphicar driving down I-43 in eastern Wisconsin last summer, the first time I’d ever seen one in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/8 "2021-07-24T17:55:05Z")
Around the spring of 1980, I worked at a gas station/repair shop and one nice evening just as we were wrapping up and getting ready to close and go home, in comes a 4 people in an open Stanley Steamer. Yellow. Jaunty looking thing. The 5 or six of us there flocked to it and the driver asked if we had a water hose he could fill its boiler with. We added lengths of it so as to make it long enough to reach. The driver/owner/passengers chatted with us and answered our very curious inquiries as the boiler filled. He explained the workings as we walked around it. Some of the yellow paint was browning in one area from the heat of the kerosene burner. A few hand strokes of the water pump filled the boiler from the reservoir. This pump only needed to be used when the car was sitting, as it and the other pumps were driven by the rear wheels, which were in turn spun by connecting rods from a piston on either side. They thanked us and we bid them so long, and off they went. I’ll tell you what: that thing can get right down the road appreciably quick. As they started off, the pistons chuff-chuffed, and seconds after pulling out on to the main road it accelerated surprisingly quick to about 40-45 mph, as it _snickety snickety snicketied_ off in to the distance. We were impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/9 "2021-07-24T18:08:45Z")
The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. The greatest car ever made, or that will ever be made. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/10 "2021-07-24T19:16:25Z")
A Bentley 3 Litre, like John Steed drove. Sadly, Emma Peel didn’t ride with him. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/11 "2021-07-24T19:36:51Z")
Damn, I checked in to make sure the Weinermobile got a far shake and I see you beat me to it. Good to see so much love for the Weiner. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/12 "2021-07-24T19:58:26Z")
One of the 1960’s TV Batmobile’s was tooling around town here (NE FL) a couple of years back. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/13 "2021-07-24T20:00:09Z")
I once saw a bright blue car out of the corner of my eye, and realized as I turned to look that it was the Ferrari Daytona that had been driven by Brock Yates and Dan Gurney when they set the Cannonball Run record in 1971. [Recent pic here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimculp/9040249322/in/photostream/) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/14 "2021-07-24T22:08:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. The classroom I taught in looked out over a parking lot full of wienermobiles that were being repaired. Including a tiny one made from a Mini (with the license number “Lil Link”). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/15 "2021-07-24T22:31:03Z")
Also here to say Weinermobile. Seen one randomly on the road at least 2-3 times. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/16 "2021-07-24T23:47:31Z")
I was going to say the same thing! I live in a city that has an Oscar Mayer plant, so the Wienermobile is here quite a bit. When Dave Barry’s son was a teenager, he picked him up from school one day in it. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/17 "2021-07-25T00:15:28Z")
I went to see the Wienermobile at an event when I was a kid, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen it on the road. In Northern California, especially the Bay Area, you occasionally see expensive exotics on the road. McLarens seem to be the most popular, but sometimes you’ll see a Ferrari or Lamborghini. I suppose the one that stands out as “most interesting” was the first time I ever saw a Lamborghini on the road, which actually wasn’t in California, but in downtown Seattle. This doesn’t count since I haven’t ever actually seen him in person, but I really hope to see the Big Banana Car someday. I follow him on Facebook, so once he resumes his travels after the pandemic I will know if he plans to visit anywhere near me. And if he does I fully intend to go out and see him. > **[The Big Banana Car](https://www.bigbananacar.com/)** > > The Big Banana Car is a 23 foot long motorised banana. It is currently driving across the United States in what the owner calls The World Needs More Whimsy Grand Tour. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/18 "2021-07-25T01:52:45Z")
Madison, WI has wienermobiles but it also has [The Bubble Mobile!](https://chuckditzler.blogspot.com/2014_09_14_archive.html) . Click that link for cool photos… but hey, there’s a video from years ago as well: . [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/30JmJZFF_tk/maxresdefault.jpg "Willy Street Fair 2012 Parade - The Bubblemobile") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30JmJZFF_tk) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/19 "2021-07-25T02:09:18Z")
I’ve seen The Jerrari on the roads long ago. It in a museum now. It’s a 1977 Jeep Wagoneer with a Ferrari V-12 wedged in under the hood. I don’t have any memory of the sound it made. I find it somewhat offensive now. [jerrari - Bing images](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=PDFc%2biMe&id=178FFBB8693C0D4A86ACEB40EF70B05C4820C786&thid=OIP.PDFc-iMe4rbq9TsBXOfo5QHaFj&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fwikipedia%2fen%2fthumb%2f4%2f4c%2fBill_Harrah%27s_Jerrari.JPG%2f1200px-Bill_Harrah%27s_Jerrari.JPG&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.3c315cfa231ee2b6eaf53b015ce7e8e5%3frik%3dhscgSFywcO9A6w%26pid%3dImgRaw&exph=900&expw=1200&q=jerrari&simid=608041097203367606&FORM=IRPRST&ck=8422B72B59D0E3E9D34B2FFEAFD60560&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198/20 "2021-07-25T05:45:27Z")
One day in Oshawa I discovered a pale orange Bricklin in the parking lot of the plaza I was visiting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-car-ever-seen-on-the-road/947198.md?page=2)