Steampunk Hot Rod Built From The Ground Up Is Bonkers

5 years, 2 months ago - 16 September 2019, motor1
Steampunk Hot Rod Built From The Ground Up Is Bonkers
This eccentric hot rod is for sale, in case you're interested.

Drawing inspiration from Cinderella's horse-drawn carriage and dragsters, British inventor Paul Bacon unveils his latest creation – the Automatron.

As you can see, it's not your ordinary custom vehicle that sometimes looks like a kitted version of an old car. It's built from the ground up, with almost all the parts custom-made for the car itself. For Bacon, it's the most expensive and most labor-intensive vehicle he has ever made.

Coming off the heels of his previous creation, the Cosmotron, Bacon decided to push through with his next project in 2015. His vision is to build something that has never been built before, but just by looking at the Automatron, it looks like something that Captain Nemo would ride in after alighting the Nautilus. Nevertheless, he made the Automatron from scratch and several spare parts, including the switches from a Lancaster bomber and front wheels of an Austin 7.

It's obvious that Bacon wants to go for something cool and hot at the same time with the Automatron. The fender-less and exposed engine design can be irksome, but that's the whole point of this one-off, we reckon.

As for the exposed engine, it's a 3.5-liter supercharged V8. The total output wasn't disclosed but it has an estimated top speed of 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour). It isn't much, but with a machine this bare, I don't think anyone would want to drive it really fast.

If you're interested with Bacon's creation, it's currently on sale right now but he didn't disclose the price. Considering that it's the most expensive build he has ever done, well, expect a high price tag for this one-of-a-kind ride.