Inventor Builds Steampunk Hot Rod From Scratch | RIDICULOUS RIDES
Internationally renowned builder of bespoke customer cars, Paul Bacon, has completed his most ambitious project yet – a steampunk hot rod built from scratch. The Automatron is a horse-drawn carriage inspired hot rod, boasting a 3.5L supercharged V8 engine with an estimated top speed of up to 110mph. Beginning with a 1924 Singer Sport base, parts were added from a variety of unlikely sources; including a switch gear from a Lancaster Bomber and the front wheels of an Austin 7. Taking over four years to complete, the build has won the maverick inventor critical acclaim, with Paul highly commended for the hot rod’s distinctive design.
Transcript
00:00 Automatron is the best thing I've ever built and I'll probably never build
00:04 anything quite this detailed ever again.
00:08 I wanted somewhere between Cinderella's carriage and a competition altered.
00:24 In 2015 inventor Paul started work on his most ambitious project to date.
00:30 Having already completed his impressive car the Cosmotron he began work on his
00:36 next invention. This car has been the most expensive car I've ever built and
00:40 also it's been the most labor-intensive up to now. Nearly every part is custom on
00:45 this car. Four years of hard work later and Paul has finally finished his once
00:51 in a lifetime creation and he's ready to unveil it. This is my car, Automatron.
01:00 I wanted to build a hot rod,
01:10 fenderless and the engine out. I didn't want to build anything like what had
01:18 been built before. I wanted to go back to the days of the horse-drawn carriage.
01:23 I also looked at a lot of top fuel dragster cars as well. One of the main
01:28 things people always ask about is you know what's the engine. The engine is
01:32 V8 and it's got Arden heads on it and it's supercharged. It sounds like the end
01:38 of the world and it's really fast. A lot of it is that they're one-off parts.
01:43 I've got the navigation binnacle from a ship. For the exhaust tips, if you got
01:50 married in the 70s, people would buy you a set of six silver goblets and these are
01:55 the goblets chopped off and bolted in there. This is a fuel tank. This was
02:02 originally a gas bottle. This is part of a Lancaster bomber. These switches, you
02:08 would have flicked them and dropped a bomb.
02:13 Out and about, driving this one-off creation isn't without its quirks.
02:19 You're off, making a right turn here.
02:22 Vision is somewhat impaired. All you can see is carburettors and engines.
02:30 Probably the worst thing is the amount of attention. You can't stop anywhere else.
02:36 You know, you're just going to be surrounded by people.
02:39 [BEEPING]
02:45 Did you make it?
02:47 The whole thing, yeah. Took me four and a half years.
02:52 I think it's great. Good job.
02:54 Cheers. Thanks a lot. Cheers, mate.
02:56 Ooh, look at all the logs.
02:58 [LAUGHS]
02:59 How fast does it go?
03:00 It goes literally as fast as you dare go.
03:03 What's the name?
03:04 It's called Automatron.
03:05 Your technique for a spin?
03:08 Yeah, maybe.
03:09 [LAUGHS]
03:10 Oh, why not?
03:11 [LAUGHS]
03:12 [LAUGHS]
03:13 Automatron is the best thing I've ever built.
03:29 Most time-consuming and the most expensive thing.
03:32 And I'll probably never build anything quite this detailed ever again.
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03:39 Okay, so...
03:41 That's Automatron.
03:43 Sadly, you know, for me, the only thing that I really like is the building of the cars.
03:50 And now it's complete. Automatron's for sale.
03:53 And, you know, soon it'll be gone and I'll have the money to fund my next project.
03:58 I think when you've been so close to a project and built it,
04:03 I don't think you can ever fully sort of appreciate it.
04:06 Someone else, though, can buy it and, well, you know, I'm sure they'll love it.
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