US designer builds ‘car of the future’

Modern car design is rubbish. Apparently. These are the thoughts of a man named Michael Vetter, presumably, and because he thinks modern car design is rubbish, he's put his carbon fibre where his mouth is and built his own ruddy car.

It's called the 'Extra Terrestrial Vehicle', and it is Michael's take on what the future holds for us all.

It sits on a Chevrolet platform, and uses a supercharged 2.0-litre four-pot petrol sending power to the front wheels via a five-speed gearbox. 270bhp to the front wheels, to be specific. So far, so normal.

But it's when you get onto that body that we disrupt the space/time continuum and head off into the future. The ETV features a five-foot high windscreen, gullwing doors operated via a remote control and a bodyshape that can only be described as 'unique'. We shudder to think what'll happen if he comes up against a speed bump in a car shaped like a computer mouse.

Vetter, who runs The Car Factory in Florida, said: "I was unprepared for the initial response I would get while driving it, but I get five times as many people photographing it than if I was in a supercar."

Like it? It'll set you back £75,000. We don't have to remind you what kind of car that'll buy you today, but a few examples include a twin-turbo BMW M5, a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, a Jaguar XKR (just), or nine base-spec Volkswagen Ups.

But of course, you'd have something different, right? "If you think a Bugatti Veyron gets a lot of attention," says Vetter, "be prepared for something of a different flavour..."

Photos: swns.com