The Scooter Scoop is about “Scooter and Microcar News, Reviews, Commentary and the Celebration of Wheeled Oddities.” Then truly I have found the Scooter Scoop Holy Grail™ – The Moonbeam:
The Moonbeam is a microcar made from two scooters and certainly a wheeled oddity.
The Moonbeam was created by Jory Squibb for a measly $2500 in materials including the two Honda Elite scooters and gets around 85 to 105 miles per gallon, has a range of about 400 miles and has a top speed over 50 mph with a comfortable cruising speed of 40 to 45 mph.
Jory has a website that details the design and construction of the car as well as information on events the car is attending, future projects, etc. I encourage you to check it out and let Jory know The Scooter Scoop sent you!
23. June 2009 at 11:39 pm
I met Jory at the Boston AltWheels festival a couple years ago. He drove the Moonbeam all the way down from Maine. That little bubblecar is far sturdier than it looks in photos. All that tubing is metal, if I recall correctly, and the sliding roof/door is very smooth and ingeniously simple.
I think this country may put too much focus on high speed highways and the big, sturdy vehicles needed to travel them. Imagine if we had a set of "lowways" across the country with speed limits of 35mph and a ban on anything bigger than a microcar. Sure, it would take longer to go places, but it would be a lot cheaper and a lot more fun.
24. June 2009 at 3:04 am
Ahh yes! TWO great things that go great together.
GenWaylaid! I kinda agree. I'd be cool with… um… 45-50mph, BUT all light weight, micro cars and scoots. Something that's not going to have a lot of inertia to transfer if it collides with something else.
The "big, sturdy vehicle" myth is one of the reasons SUVs became so popular… EVEN though they are just bigger, more cumbersome targets that cause more destruction when they wreck.
I think Nerf should make a car!
24. June 2009 at 3:28 pm
Smarter than a Smart Car…
Seriously I love the innovation and agree that transportation could be a lot more reasonable than what we think we "need" at the moment. However living in a northern climate and dealing with winter makes these lightweight cars a tough sell when the snow blows through.
Dan