Comments

  1. johnlee says

    can I be the first pedant to point out that it has six legs, and so is probably a Beetlecar?

  3. ospalh says

    Or, you know, a beetle. And maybe think the sixth, the left rear one is, obscured by the left middle leg.

  4. Duckbilled Platypus says

    The site you have it from suggests that the pic ain’t that old, and that it is photoshopped, but I remember this photo from years ago. I’m unsure if it is a real project or not.

    If it is real, it just needs the finishing touch of some working headlights. And then, instant cardiac arrest material when people walks up to this monster when it’s foggy.

  5. says

    It probably would be less prone to slipping on the ice, but more prone to accidentally stabbing pedestrians, pets, and strollers through the torso with a metal bar. Also the gas mileage would probably be terrible. And parking would be tricky at best.

  7. hemidactylus says

    Aha a VW bug tricked out into a bug. A visual pun if there ever was one.

    Bugs used to be tricked out in so many directions: dune buggies, poor person street rods, dragsters… A show I watched a few episodes of recently Car vs America had a segment featuring a modded Porsche 912 with air-cooled six cylinder set up with sand tires for off-roading. I appreciate the strange off-putting space such a contraption occupies as it potentially pisses off at least two demographics: affluent yuppie purists and rednecks. Yuppies would hate a Porsche converted away from its sole mission of wealth signaling streetness. Rednecks would hate a foreign built non-truck invading their sacred off-road turf. I kinda like that double affront.

    Now someone should build a patina covered spider Porsche to affront even more people, the Germans included.

  8. Dave, ex-Kwisatz Haderach says

    We had a similar piece here in Calgary. A beetle chassis up on insect legs off 14th St. Not sure if its still around, can’t seem to find it on Google streetview and I haven’t driven that way in a while.

  13. komarov says

    I wonder if something like that wouldn’t be safer than wheels on these icy days…

    Probably. It’d be slower and when a couple of legs slip on an icy patch, instead of your vehicle careening into someone or something else, it should just slam into the road below and stop pretty much instantly with minimal overturning. I’m sorry, I meant to say “settle onto the road surface and commence rapid friction-induced braking manoeuvre.”

    So, in conclusion, very safe!

    Oh, all those legs may tangle and slow down emergency responders trying to get to you. But if we ignore the “beetle” thing and stick to the spider theme, I think the biggest obstacle to your rescue would be the spidersilk seatbelts, which beside being incredibly strong would also ensnare the would-be rescuers.