Several geek sites are buzzing over images of a Volkswagen Beetle fitted with a jet engine in the back. The car still has the production gasoline engine in the front, powering the front wheels. The creator, who says he has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, claims the car is street legal — until you activate the jet, of course. We’re not entirely convinced it’s real, but have a look…
Zero obligation price quote from a trusted local dealer.
03/07, 7:23 PM
posted by:
Thing2
…is it a “lightning bug” now? HAHAHAHAHA….bad joke for an even worse idea..
03/07, 7:39 PM
posted by:
Jerry Mahoney
Must be a fake. there might be a barrel or so worth of fancy looking metal in the trunk but I am sure it’s al just pyro.
03/07, 7:41 PM
posted by:
Martin
It looks like the air-intake is inside the car cabin. Whoever is inside is probably going to either get sucked in or have the engine overheat. I’m guessing fake.
03/07, 8:09 PM
posted by:
Nuno
I’ve been seeing this making the rounds on several websites and am skeptical, but I’ll hold out judgement until a video is posted.
03/07, 8:20 PM
posted by:
Maranello
I heard that it’s not hooked up to anything so it doesn’t make it go anyfaster, it’s just for looks
03/07, 8:34 PM
posted by:
JD
If it’s a Ram Jet engine it wouldn’t need air. Only turbine engines have spinning fans for intaking air…..and humans.
03/07, 10:24 PM
posted by:
John
Who would cut a hole in their car just for looks? It has to be real, right? Who would do such a thing?
03/07, 10:43 PM
posted by:
Chad Christenson
I can tell you that it is physically legit. I don’t know if it runs or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. It was at the Autorama show here at the Cobo Center in Michigan last weekend, so I got to see it in person.
03/07, 10:44 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
What I wanna know is why the car is standing perfectly still in those pictures where that jet engine is blasting/thrusting away?
03/07, 11:03 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
If it was real the car wouldnt be sitting still with the brake lights on while it was on full blast like in the picture
03/08, 1:30 AM
posted by:
michael
Fake. Where’s the extra fuel tank because a jet cant run off of gasoline. It would need kerosene or jet fuel. Wheres the air intake? It cant feed from the passenger compartment. Also, as mentioned, the jet is going and the vehicle is at a dead stop not even hunched forward against the brakes? No way.
03/08, 2:17 AM
posted by:
Steve
It looks like the fuel would come from a tank mounted in the spare tire cavity. I still think it is fake, but if it isn’t I wish it were.
03/08, 3:11 AM
posted by:
Hasse
lol
03/08, 4:33 AM
posted by:
mo
some of you are defenitly to stupid for this comments. Yesssss, a turbine needs air – but please have a look at the pictures absolutly no prob to suck the air from the ground. Who told anybody that the turbine is on full blast on the fist picture??? Before writing such kind of comments know how a turbine works!!
03/08, 5:36 AM
posted by:
Derek
To be honest, i couldn’t say whether this is real or not, it’s definitely possible and as mo says above, in the first pic i don’t think it is on full throttle at all… as far as i know if it were on full throttle the “thrust” coming out the back would be almost invisible. You can get these kind of flaming effects from a jet engine just for show, which i imagine is what the car would be for judging by the tiny fuel tank. However, one thing that does concern me, and point to maybe it being a fake, is if you were to take this thing down a strip at a show you’d most likely want a parachute mounted under the back somewhere, otherwise how the hell are you gonna slow it down? Also those tyres look pretty standard to me, so they’ll disintegtrate once u hit about 160mph or so perhaps. Giving a car tons of power isn’t hard, it’s controlling the power and velocity that’s a real engineering challenge. So perhaps, even if it is real, u couldn’t use the full potential of the engine at all. Oh, and btw, John… people really do cut holes and stick mdf to their car etc., just for looks lol, so don’t be too surprised if it is a fake. Sry… that’s a long post
03/08, 11:12 AM
posted by:
WHUT
So much for “keeping it down on the engineering, ya’ll”.
its fake, the flames are photoshoped. The top one is asymmetrical when they were going for a tear drop shape. Plus its the same effect i’ve seen used to make lightsabers glow haha. The second one is also fake. White-hot flames are only very controled and would have blue AROUND the white section. Tell me, its ALL WHITE (which would be melting everything in its path) yet the next hottest color, Blue, is not surrounding it? Instead, it was photoshoped with an orange edge..
03/16, 3:49 PM
posted by:
Jake
Let me correct a few things people have said:
1) A RAM jet most definately needs air, look it up if you don’t believe me. In fact it won’t even start up without high speed air already flowing through it. In any case a ram jet isn’t suitable for a car but a turbine is.
2) The air intake could easily be on the underside w/ no problem, or could possibly be routed through from the front somehow.
3) It’s real, it’s not photoshopped. No matter how you might have convinced yourself it’s fake, it’s real.
4) A jet engine at idle or slightly above would not create any substantial thrust so the car wouldn’t move, but it sure would look and sound impressive, as you’ve seen on the vid.
5) Yes a jet can too run on gasoline, although it has to be tuned for it. In fact GM was experimenting w/ gas turbine cars for a while but the public didn’t buy into it. Too bad, they were sweet, smooth driving machines.
03/20, 4:25 PM
posted by:
Ryan
Everyone’s saying that the bug should have the brake lights on if its producing any thrust… well… How did ya’ll miss the fact that in the first pic they ARE on. lol
The second… I can’t tell.. but I’d bet they are, and the red backlight from the flame just washes them out
I can’t get enough of you disbelievers. I suppose you wouldn’t believe a video either since they can be faked. If you were at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona this January, you would have seen it working – before I was permanently banned from the show and fairgrounds.
10/20, 12:00 PM
posted by:
ANONYMOUSPSYCHOPATH
HEY WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MERGE ON THE FREEWAY!
You need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.
Don't have a user name yet? Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.
Please note that you need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.
Forgot your Password?
Don't have a user name yet? Click here to register now.
Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.
Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day with the very latest auto news - as it happens.
Leftlane also provides consumers with accurate and media-rich information on every car currently on the market. In-market shoppers can review specs, read overviews, view high-resolution images, watch videos, and estimate pricing. No other automotive publication brings together the same degree of timeliness, thoroughness and accuracy as Leftlane.
03/07, 7:23 PM
posted by:
Thing2
…is it a “lightning bug” now? HAHAHAHAHA….bad joke for an even worse idea..
03/07, 7:39 PM
posted by:
Jerry Mahoney
Must be a fake. there might be a barrel or so worth of fancy looking metal in the trunk but I am sure it’s al just pyro.
03/07, 7:41 PM
posted by:
Martin
It looks like the air-intake is inside the car cabin. Whoever is inside is probably going to either get sucked in or have the engine overheat. I’m guessing fake.
03/07, 8:09 PM
posted by:
Nuno
I’ve been seeing this making the rounds on several websites and am skeptical, but I’ll hold out judgement until a video is posted.
03/07, 8:20 PM
posted by:
Maranello
I heard that it’s not hooked up to anything so it doesn’t make it go anyfaster, it’s just for looks
03/07, 8:34 PM
posted by:
JD
If it’s a Ram Jet engine it wouldn’t need air. Only turbine engines have spinning fans for intaking air…..and humans.
03/07, 10:24 PM
posted by:
John
Who would cut a hole in their car just for looks? It has to be real, right? Who would do such a thing?
03/07, 10:43 PM
posted by:
Chad Christenson
I can tell you that it is physically legit. I don’t know if it runs or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. It was at the Autorama show here at the Cobo Center in Michigan last weekend, so I got to see it in person.
03/07, 10:44 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
What I wanna know is why the car is standing perfectly still in those pictures where that jet engine is blasting/thrusting away?
03/07, 11:03 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
If it was real the car wouldnt be sitting still with the brake lights on while it was on full blast like in the picture
03/08, 1:30 AM
posted by:
michael
Fake. Where’s the extra fuel tank because a jet cant run off of gasoline. It would need kerosene or jet fuel. Wheres the air intake? It cant feed from the passenger compartment. Also, as mentioned, the jet is going and the vehicle is at a dead stop not even hunched forward against the brakes? No way.
03/08, 2:17 AM
posted by:
Steve
It looks like the fuel would come from a tank mounted in the spare tire cavity. I still think it is fake, but if it isn’t I wish it were.
03/08, 3:11 AM
posted by:
Hasse
lol
03/08, 4:33 AM
posted by:
mo
some of you are defenitly to stupid for this comments. Yesssss, a turbine needs air – but please have a look at the pictures absolutly no prob to suck the air from the ground. Who told anybody that the turbine is on full blast on the fist picture??? Before writing such kind of comments know how a turbine works!!
03/08, 5:36 AM
posted by:
Derek
To be honest, i couldn’t say whether this is real or not, it’s definitely possible and as mo says above, in the first pic i don’t think it is on full throttle at all… as far as i know if it were on full throttle the “thrust” coming out the back would be almost invisible. You can get these kind of flaming effects from a jet engine just for show, which i imagine is what the car would be for judging by the tiny fuel tank. However, one thing that does concern me, and point to maybe it being a fake, is if you were to take this thing down a strip at a show you’d most likely want a parachute mounted under the back somewhere, otherwise how the hell are you gonna slow it down? Also those tyres look pretty standard to me, so they’ll disintegtrate once u hit about 160mph or so perhaps. Giving a car tons of power isn’t hard, it’s controlling the power and velocity that’s a real engineering challenge. So perhaps, even if it is real, u couldn’t use the full potential of the engine at all. Oh, and btw, John… people really do cut holes and stick mdf to their car etc., just for looks lol, so don’t be too surprised if it is a fake. Sry… that’s a long post
03/08, 11:12 AM
posted by:
WHUT
So much for “keeping it down on the engineering, ya’ll”.
03/08, 1:57 PM
posted by:
Big_Rush
Here is the link of this AMAZING video http://videos.streetfire.net/video/936BE777-D0B8-4766-A290-FF0555E2849E.htm GREAT SOUND an BIG FLAMMES !
03/08, 4:49 PM
posted by:
Thing2
its fake, the flames are photoshoped. The top one is asymmetrical when they were going for a tear drop shape. Plus its the same effect i’ve seen used to make lightsabers glow haha. The second one is also fake. White-hot flames are only very controled and would have blue AROUND the white section. Tell me, its ALL WHITE (which would be melting everything in its path) yet the next hottest color, Blue, is not surrounding it? Instead, it was photoshoped with an orange edge..
03/16, 3:49 PM
posted by:
Jake
Let me correct a few things people have said:
1) A RAM jet most definately needs air, look it up if you don’t believe me. In fact it won’t even start up without high speed air already flowing through it. In any case a ram jet isn’t suitable for a car but a turbine is.
2) The air intake could easily be on the underside w/ no problem, or could possibly be routed through from the front somehow.
3) It’s real, it’s not photoshopped. No matter how you might have convinced yourself it’s fake, it’s real.
4) A jet engine at idle or slightly above would not create any substantial thrust so the car wouldn’t move, but it sure would look and sound impressive, as you’ve seen on the vid.
5) Yes a jet can too run on gasoline, although it has to be tuned for it. In fact GM was experimenting w/ gas turbine cars for a while but the public didn’t buy into it. Too bad, they were sweet, smooth driving machines.
03/20, 4:25 PM
posted by:
Ryan
Everyone’s saying that the bug should have the brake lights on if its producing any thrust… well… How did ya’ll miss the fact that in the first pic they ARE on. lol
The second… I can’t tell.. but I’d bet they are, and the red backlight from the flame just washes them out
03/24, 3:24 AM
posted by:
Ron Patrick
Guys,
Here’s a better link: http://www.ecm-co.com/jetbeetle/
I can’t get enough of you disbelievers. I suppose you wouldn’t believe a video either since they can be faked. If you were at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona this January, you would have seen it working – before I was permanently banned from the show and fairgrounds.
10/20, 12:00 PM
posted by:
ANONYMOUSPSYCHOPATH
HEY WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MERGE ON THE FREEWAY!