You retire and normally (I'm thinking of my father) you spend your free time resting, having fun and doing some DIY. This last point got a little out of hand for Dan Hryhorcoff, from Pennsylvania (USA). His retirement has little to do with time off. So he decided to start building extraordinary vehicles that defied any conventionality.
After working on a submarine and other projects, the pandemic meant for Dan to embark on a truly groundbreaking design, a giant bumper car, more than double the size of a normal one, which would be legal to drive on the road. He began by making a replica of a pedal car, with fiberglass, a material that he learned to model in his submarine work.
The result, this bumper car, inspired by a 1953 model (which he saw at the Knoebels amusement park in Elysburg (Pennsylvania). Which is enormous. It measures almost 4 meters in length (3,962 mm) by 2,133 mm wide and 1,676 mm height).
The aesthetics are reminiscent of the pick-ups that Chevrolet sold in the 1950s. After researching and collecting information from the old bumper car to replicate every detail, he took parts from a Chevrolet Aveo for the driving part and a single motorcycle wheel in the front so that it could be functional… and could spin faster. Yes indeed, approve something like this for road use open is only possible in America. Here in Europe it would have no place
Dan Hryhorcoff started operating a lathe when he was 13 and spent several years in the United States Navy repairing airplanes, before study mechanical engineering. With all that experience and his own machinery company (Justus Machine), we wouldn't be surprised if this retiree continued to surprise with more creations.
Via: Popular Science
