Autoblog

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Those of you who'd like to power your daily driver with a jet engine but are a little too concerned about the complexity of a turbine should take a look at the good old pulse jet. With a slightly crazy but active community still working on the German World War II engine design, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything on wheels that hasn't seen a buzzing pulse jet strapped onto it somehow. Something with two wheels? Sure. How about something with four wheels and a couple thousand horsepower? Heck yeah! As you can see in the video pasted after the break, the venerable pulse jet has seen plenty of duty on race and show cars, and there's not much in this world thats cooler than a jet-powered automobile. Just don't start it in front of your neighbor's house and you'll be fine.

[Source: YouTube]

Much has been said about the horrific crash that occured on September 21st last year in which Top Gear host Richard Hammond nearly lost his life after losing control of the jet car he was driving for a bit on his beloved TV show. Hammond has spoken out today in an article published on the UK's Daily Mirror website. He recalls seeing the accident footage for the first time in the Top Gear offices, which will be debuted to the public during the show's return on January 28th. The footage clearly reveals the cause of the accident, which was a tire that blew out as Hammond and his jet car were travelling 288 mph. Hammond reveals that he actually foretold the crash while taping an intro before the run, saying on camera that this might end up in "the biggest accident you've ever seen". Unfortunately it did end that way, but credit goes to Hammond's white helmet, visible in the footage, and the car's roll cage, for preventing the crash being fatal. Four stills from the crash footage have been released with Hammond's words, but we've only posted one here. Please click the Read link to see the rest and read Hammond's own account of the crash and seeing it for himself the very first time.

[Source: Daily Mirror via GermanCarScene]

Despite the fact that doctors predicted he would be in the hospital for 15 months, Richard Hammond exited the ER after only a couple of weeks following his horrific accident involving a jet car that he lost control of at over 300 mph. Last Friday Hammond gave his first interview on Brit Jonathan Ross's talk show, which we've assembled here for you after the jump. The interview comes in two parts and totals around 15 minutes.

We have no idea who Jonathan Ross is, but apparently Hammond was hankering a trip back to the '70s and the purple and red set of Jonathan Ross hit the spot. In their conversation, Hammond reveals that he can't remember the two weeks following the crash, and that by doctors' orders he's not allowed to drink, at least heavily, for the next two years.

Seeing the Hamster engaging in a conversation, successfully at that, is a bit weird considering the story we've all been following. No one would be surprised if the man arrived on set in a full body cast sipping lunch through a straw, but instead Hammond saunters on stage and shows us all that his trademark wit and humor has recovered fully.

Check out the videos after the jump.

Thanks for the tip, Matt!

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• Top Gear's back with Hammon, airing Jan28
• Richard Hammond, released from hospital, describes crash and recovery
• VIDEO: Hamster dragster crash footage!
• Set the TiVo: Hammond crash will be made into show
• BBC won't sTop Gear: show resumes filming
• Hammond Watch: the grueling road ahead
• Hammond to BBC: show the crash and me in the hospital
• Top Gear fights for survival as BBC postpones show indefinitely
• Hammond Update: "Was I driving like a tw*t?"
• Giving in the name of Richard Hammond
• Top Gear's "Hamster" in stable but serious condition day after crash
• UPDATE: Details on Richard Hammond crash
• Top Gear's Richard Hammond in critical condition

Jay Leno is giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the EcoJet came about. On Leno's web site, a four minute film shows Leno and Ed Wellburn, GM vice president of global design, discussing the design process of the jet-powered car. A gallery of photos taken during the car's construction document the development from scale model to SEMA-ready.

On the video, Leno shares an interesting fact about the EcoJet's Lexan rear window. Lexan, he says, is made by General Electric, owner of NBC which owns The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, on which Kevin Bacon has appeared. Leno says he asked GE for some of the clear, bulletproof material and they gave it to him for the EcoJet.

It's a fascinating look at concept-car development we don't normally get to see, made possible by the car's owner being Leno instead of GM.

[Source: www.jaylenosgarage.com]

Thanks to Peter for the tip!

We really don't know where to begin with this one. We thought we'd seen every conceivable form of motivation, then this comes along and it seems to defy description. The video is courtesy of Streetfire.net, who contends that beneath all that pimperific body work, lives a water-propelled, jet-powered Peugeot 206. Our minds are reeling in an attempt to understand the technical hurdles of such a vehicle. Check the video, then speculate in 'comments'.

[Source: Streetfire.net]