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.
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MotorTranscript
00:00Automatron is the best thing I've ever built and I'll probably never build anything quite
00:05this detailed ever again.
00:09I wanted somewhere between a Cinderella's carriage and a competition halter.
00:21In 2015, inventor Paul started work on his most ambitious project to date.
00:32Having already completed his impressive car, the Cosmatron, he began work on his next invention.
00:37This car has been the most expensive car I've ever built and also it's been the most labour
00:42intensive up to now.
00:43Nearly every part is custom on this car.
00:47Four years of hard work later and Paul has finally finished his once in a lifetime creation
00:53and he's ready to unveil it.
00:56This is my car, Automatron.
00:59I wanted to build a hot rod, fenderless and the engine out.
01:15I didn't want to build anything like what had been built before.
01:20I wanted to go back to the days of the horse-drawn carriage.
01:23I also looked at a lot of top fuel dragster cars as well.
01:28One of the main things people always ask about is, you know, what's the engine?
01:32The engine is V8 and it's got Arden heads on it and it's supercharged.
01:38Sounds like the end of the world and it's really fast.
01:41A lot of it is that they're one-off parts.
01:44You've got the navigation binnacle from a ship but the exhaust tips, if you got married
01:51in the 70s, people would buy you a set of six silver goblets and these are the goblets
01:56chopped off and bolted in there.
01:59This is a fuel tank.
02:02This was originally a gas bottle.
02:05This is part of a Lancaster bomber.
02:07These switches, you would have flicked them and dropped a bomb.
02:15Out and about, driving this one-off creation isn't without its quirks.
02:18There you are.
02:19Making a right turn here.
02:25Vision is somewhat impaired.
02:26All you can see is carburettors and engines.
02:31Probably the worst thing is the amount of attention.
02:34You can't stop anywhere or, you know, you're just going to be surrounded by people.
02:45Did you make it?
02:47The whole thing, yeah.
02:49Took me four and a half years.
02:51I think it's great.
02:53Good job.
02:54Cheers.
02:55Thanks a lot.
02:56Cheers, mate.
02:59How fast does it go?
03:00It goes literally as fast as you dare go.
03:02What's the name?
03:03It's called Automatron.
03:05Are you going to take me for a spin?
03:07Yeah, maybe.
03:09Why not?
03:15I don't know.
03:27Automatron is the best thing I've ever built.
03:29Most time-consuming and the most expensive thing.
03:32And I'll probably never build anything quite this detailed ever again.
03:40Okay, so, that's Automatron.
03:43Sadly, you know, for me, the only thing that I really like is the building of the cars.
03:49And now it's complete.
03:51Automatron's for sale.
03:53And, you know, soon it'll be gone and I'll have the money to fund my next project.
03:58I think when you've been so close to a project and built it,
04:02I don't think you can ever fully, sort of, appreciate it.
04:05Someone else, though, can buy it and, well, you know, I'm sure they'll love it.
04:13www.automatron.com