On June 6, 2010, Matthew Riese launched a project on Kickstarter to create a Dolerean Hovercraft. His aim was to raise $5500 in order to buy all the materials needed to complete his childhood dream.
The 26 year old graduate student from San Francisco with a passion for surfing and cave spelunking, wanted to own a Dolerean ever since he saw the movie Back To The Future. Who didn’t! I remember watching the movies over and over, envying Marty who got to go back in time. (And his dog, who got the very first test drive…)
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the DeLorean DMC-12 played a vital part in the Back To The Future Franchise. To give a brief overview, the movie starts with Marty McFly, one of many children from a not so happy middle class family. His friend, Dr. Emmett Brown revealed the DeLorean to him, a time machine powered by plutonium that generates 1.21 gigawatts of power to the Flux Capacitor, which will travel to a programmed date when the vehicle reaches 88 miles per hour. The Doc gets shot by Libyan terrorists, Marty jumps in the DeLorean in an effort to speed away and escape, thus reaching 88 miles per hour and go back in time to 1955. (incidentally, the same year Doc invented the Flux Capacitor.)
20 years later, we still don’t have flying cars or flux capacitors, but we have Matthew Riese who built a DeLorean Hovercraft. He used approximately 2.5 gallons of epoxy resin, 16 yards of fiberglass, clear casting resin, foam PVC plastic sheeting, urethane foam, and a whole bunch of other scientifically sounding substances to build his hover craft; which interestingly enough, is registered in California as a boat, as it is not street legal. The craft hovers over flat surfaces like sand or water.
Basically, a hovercraft has a fan that pushes air underneath the middle of the craft to lift it off the ground, and a fan that pushes air behind the craft to make it go forward. The Kickstarter project was a huge success, exceeding the funds requested of $5500. Matthew gave awesome gifts to all the people who backed him, including a ride in the hover craft for those who contributed generously.
The hovercraft reaches speeds of approximately 45 miles per hour,quite impressive for a vehicle that doesn’t have any brakes. Sadly, it is not a time machine, and it won’t reach 88 miles per hour, therefore it doesn’t require plutonium. Or a flux capacitor…
If you’re a fan of the Back To The Future Franchise, you might also enjoy the Flux Capacitor Replica and DeLorean Model.
Check out more info about the Hovercraft Delorean at Kickstarter.
