Highway to hell?

An enthusiast in the US has built a motorised coffin on wheels, powered by a pulse jet. Its builder, Bob Maddox, has a strong interest in improbable vehicles and built the vehicle using a coffin and a small pulse jet, all mounted on a lightweight chassis and wheels. Weighing just 136kg, his Maddoxjets Coffin Car can accelerate from 0-100km/h in around nine seconds. According to Maddox, he once drove the Coffin Car at 100km/h but was concerned for its stability and wary of attempting to drive it any quicker.
February 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
An enthusiast in the US has built a motorised coffin on wheels, powered by a pulse jet. Its builder, Bob Maddox, has a strong interest in improbable vehicles and built the vehicle using a coffin and a small pulse jet, all mounted on a lightweight chassis and wheels. Weighing just 136kg, his Maddoxjets Coffin Car can accelerate from 0-100km/h in around nine seconds. According to Maddox, he once drove the Coffin Car at 100km/h but was concerned for its stability and wary of attempting to drive it any quicker. Presumably he was unwilling to end up in a coffin, in the ground. Maddox previously built a motorcycle powered by a similar pulse jet, although like the Coffin Car this was strictly for demonstrations and drag racing events and not road legal. Pulse jets were used to power the German V1 flying bombs used in WWII and are simple in design, but their hot exhaust gases mean these engines are unsuited to use on road.

Related Content

  • Modelling skills
    May 14, 2014
    Two Lego enthusiasts have used their enthusiasm for the versatile plaything to build a full scale car. The vehicle is able to be driven as well and can attain speeds of up to 20-30km/h using its compressed air motor. Its builders say they were wary of attempting to drive it at a higher speed in case it fell apart. The open top car is made of some 500,000 pieces of Lego and feaures a novel four bank, radial engine design powered by compressed air with no less than 256 pistons. Only the wheels and a few load
    Read More
  • VW to offer fuel sipping city car
    March 5, 2012
    The Volkswagen group has now committed itself to putting its innovative XL1 vehicle into series production.
    Read More
  • Electric dragster
    February 24, 2012
    Two British brothers have built an electric drag racer capable of hitting 100km/h in just 1.6 seconds.
    Read More
  • Driving to dinner
    February 21, 2012
    A British man has set a speed record for the world's fastest item of furniture by driving a dinner table at 182km/h. The table comfortably beat the previous record of 147km/h set by a sofa in 2007. At its peak on one run the table hit 208km/h along the 500m drag strip although the vehicle's driver and builder said he felt he was travelling somewhat faster
    Read More

Highlighted Content