Homer Simpson’s Car Of The Future Now Exists In The Present

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

car built for homerAnybody thinking that the future of transportation will rely on flying cars and fusion drives is surely putting their trust in all the wrong places. The sky is the limit, people! Why would we spend the better part of a century building and updating roads for interstate travel if we’re just going to give them up and take to the air? Because our country likes to spend money on temporary solutions? Well…that’s neither here nor there.

What’s here and there is “The Homer,” an ingenious example of dedicated fandom, designed and put together by the guys at Porcubimmer Motors for this year’s 24 Hours of LeMon, a series of endurance races created specifically for cars that cost less than $500. The vehicle is an homage to “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” a classic episode from the second season of The Simpsons, which involves Homer meeting his half-brother Herbert Powell and subsequently bankrupting his car company by offering up an “everyman” design for a vehicle that made common superhero vehicles look simple in comparison. It also costs about $82,000, far from the price limit set by the LeMon race.

So some adjustments had to be made, of course, but the team’s work, led by creative director Jeff Hermann, is one of the best future-vehicles that has ever been created, not the least because it actually runs. (It’s so hard to get a working TARDIS off the ground these days.)

homer car

It has one dome instead of two, but that’s really the only significant difference between the animated car and its real-life counterpart. Tailfin? Check. Smaller dome where the kids can quarrel in privacy? Check. Bowler hood ornament? Check. There’s even a horn on top, which I assume is hooked up to three different horns inside, since you can never find a horn when you’re mad. I don’t know if the engine has made anyone think the world is coming to an end, but it sounds great to me. Check the car out in action below.

Sadly, the guys came in seventh during the race, but that just goes to show you how ahead of the curve it is; people don’t even know they’re supposed to lose to this thing yet. “The intelligent man wins his battles with pointed words. I’m sorry — I meant sticks. Pointed sticks.” Wise words, Mr. Simpson. Wise words indeed.

Enjoy the many different pics below, courtesy of David Moore, who also took the photo up top. Next up, the Canyonero?

the simpsons

marge and sisters

bart and lisa

bowler ornament

gorilla engine

rear car