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 Automaton is the best thing I've ever built,
00:03 and I'll probably never build anything quite this detailed ever again.
00:07 I wanted somewhere between a Cinderella's carriage and a competition altered.
00:25 In 2015, inventor Paul started work on his most ambitious project to date.
00:31 Having already completed his impressive car, the Cosmotron, he began work on his next invention.
00:37 This car has been the most expensive car I've ever built,
00:40 and also it's been the most labour intensive up to now.
00:43 Nearly every part is custom on this car.
00:46 Four years of hard work later, and Paul has finally finished his once in a lifetime creation.
00:53 And he's ready to unveil it.
00:55 This is my car, Automatron.
00:59 I wanted to build a hot rod.
01:10 Fenderless and the engine out.
01:14 I didn't want to build anything like what had been built before.
01:20 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.
01:27 One of the main things people always ask about is, you know, what's the engine?
01:31 The engine is V8, and it's got Arden heads on it, and it's supercharged.
01:37 It sounds like the end of the world, and it's really fast.
01:41 A lot of it is, they're one-off parts.
01:43 We've got the navigation binnacle from a ship.
01:48 For the exhaust tips, if you got married in the 70s, people would buy you a set of six silver goblets.
01:55 And these are the goblets chopped off and bolted in there.
01:58 This is a fuel tank.
02:00 This was originally a gas bottle.
02:04 This is part of a Lancaster bomber.
02:07 These switches, you would have flicked them and dropped a bomb.
02:15 Out and about, driving this one-off creation isn't without its quirks.
02:19 There you are, making a right turn here.
02:22 Vision's somewhat impaired. All you can see is carburettors and engines.
02:30 Probably the worst thing is the amount of attention.
02:34 You can't stop anywhere else. You know, you're just going to be surrounded by people.
02:39 [BEEPING]
02:45 Did you make it?
02:48 The whole thing, yeah.
02:50 Took me four and a half years.
02:52 I think it's great. Good job.
02:54 Cheers. Thanks a lot. Cheers, mate.
02:57 Ooh, you're holding up!
02:59 [LAUGHS]
03:00 How fast does it go?
03:01 It goes literally as fast as you dare go.
03:03 What's the name?
03:04 It's called Automatron.
03:06 Is it a technique for a spin?
03:08 Yeah, maybe.
03:10 [LAUGHS]
03:11 Why not?
03:12 [LAUGHS]
03:13 Automatron is the best thing I've ever built.
03:30 Most time-consuming and the most expensive thing.
03:33 And I'll probably never build anything quite this detailed ever again.
03:38 [MUSIC ENDS]
03:40 OK, so...
03:42 That's Automatron.
03:44 Sadly, 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,
03:54 and soon it'll be gone and I'll have the money to fund my next project.
03:59 I think when you've been so close to a project and built it,
04:03 I don't think you can ever fully appreciate it.
04:07 Someone else, though, can buy it and, oh, I'm sure they'll love it.
04:11 [MUSIC CONTINUES]
04:14 [MUSIC ENDS]
04:17 [MUSIC ENDS]
04:19 (upbeat music)