When I was a kid, my dad’s 300 gallon fish tank overflowed and dumped a quarter of its contents onto my mother’s clean kitchen floor. Like any logical child would do, I stripped down buck naked and had a slip n slide party in the kitchen. It was awesome.
While insisting that my sister push me in a baby doll stroller, the dang thing snapped in half and I was rewarded with a metal rod scraping the length of my shin. I still have a scar to prove it.
Having outgrown my white, teal, and bright pink roller blades (ah, the 90’s), I tried strapping the neighbor boy’s Playskool dump truck and school bus to my feet, attempting, in vain, to find a substitute.
Forever on a quest to find the newest and funnest (hey, Microsoft, funnest is a word!) mode of transportation, the seven-year-old in me wants to go out and do everything in her power to find this amazing mini car that a full grown adult can ride on!
This video, titled “We tried to make a mini car that people can ride on,” was uploaded to NicoNicoDouga (a Japanese version of Youtube) last week and already has 139,522 views and 4,184 comments. In the very beginning of the movie, you see a miniature car being stepped on by a giant foot. In it’s original state, even an abnormally large hamster wouldn’t be able to ride on this mini car, let alone a full-grown human. However, by increasing the torque 100 times the normal strength, the car is able to carry a 220 pound man (or mutant hamster) without increasing the size of the chassis.
The video goes on to describe the steps the creators took to make their dream car a reality. Their first step was to substitute the original set of white rubber tires for a harder plastic and metal version that would allow the car to move when stepped on. Adding a ton of gears and two AA batteries (the same amount of power used for a normal mini car), the car begins to look a little more complete, but doesn’t have enough power. The gears are changed out and the battery is substituted with a Tamiya PowerChamp GT, a high power, high capacity, shock resistant alkaline battery. After spray painting the body a bright yellow, attaching it to the chassis, and adding a few reinforcements (including a foot pedal!), the mini car of my 7-year-old self’s dreams is complete!
The makers have even included a shot of their mini car rotating on a elevated pedestal. Nice touch!
Mini car specs:
Body length: 158mm
Body width: 104mm
Body height: 35mm
Wheel base: 86mm
Weight: 467g
Gear ratio: 326:1
Speed: 0.3km/h
Yeah, it’s a bit slow and yeah, you have to have one heck of a balance, but it’s a freaking mini car that your fat ass can ride on! I don’t know about you, but I’d take a ride on a Tamiya car over those lame yellow and red Playskool egg carts any day.
Whee! I wish I had a rideable mini car!
Source: ITmedia