World’s First Jet-Powered Amish Buggy from project helius Watch Video

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✓ Published: 29-Apr-2024

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AN AMISH BUGGY that would normally be drawn by horses has been fitted with a turbo jet engine. “It’s like oil and water, they should not go together,” jokes its creator Chad Clark. The outrageous project, built by Chad Clark and Mike Monter of Millersburg, Ohio was originally meant to be something very different. “Mike and I were at our local county fair, I mentioned it would be really cool to build a turbine-powered four-wheel drive pulling truck,” Chad explained. But the auction description had misrepresented the engine as a turbo shaft engine. “I went home that night, found an engine online and bought it but didn’t realise it was not turboshaft, it was turbojet only,” Chad remembers. They ended up having to use a much lighter vehicle instead of the original truck. “We live in the Amish capital of the world so we figured an Amish buggy would be perfect,” Chad said. Co-creator Mike Monter told Future Studios Cars: “He called me up, said we’re not doing a pulling truck anymore, we’re doing an Amish buggy – seemed natural.” The build and modifications cost around $30,000 and took roughly 700 hours of labour to complete: “Many all-nighters,” Chad said. When out in public, people struggle to believe the bizarre creation actually works. “When people see the Thunder Buggy they can’t believe their eyes and the first question is, does it really move? Yes it does,” explained Chad. Traditionally, these buggies would have been moved by horses so this particular one is far from conventional. “The buggy is not designed to take 100 feet of electrical wiring, fuel tanks and a jet engine,” Chad admitted. With a top speed of 65 miles per hour before the wheels start shaking, this exhibition-only vehicle was not built for speed: “It’s a really simple engine design, it’s some pretty awesome engineering from back in the 40s,” explained Chad.