Chad Clark and Mike Monter of Millersburg, Ohio, didn’t start out with the intention of making a jet-powered Amish buggy.
It kind of just happened.
Chad even admits: “It’s like oil and water, they should not go together.”
Watch the video to find out more about this jet powered buggy.
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Video credit: Rumble
They actually had something different in mind.
“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 what was labeled as a turbo-shaft engine at an online auction site was actually a turbojet engine.
“I went home that night, found an engine online and bought it but didn’t realize it was not turbo-shaft, it was turbojet only,” Chad remembers.
This forced them to use a much lighter vehicle than the truck they originally planned on using.
Chad said: “We live in the Amish capital of the world so we figured an Amish buggy would be perfect.”
Co-creator Mike added: “He called me up, said we’re not doing a pulling truck anymore, we’re doing an Amish buggy – seemed natural.”
It took them about 700 hours and “many all-nighters” to complete the project which also set them back by around $35,000.
And the crazy thing is, the bizarre vehicle actually works.
Chad said: “When people see the Thunder Buggy they can’t believe their eyes and the first question is, does it really move? Yes, it does.”
It wasn’t easy modifying a buggy that was originally intended to have been pulled by horses. “The buggy is not designed to take 100 feet of electrical wiring, fuel tanks, and a jet engine,” Chad admitted.
The exhibition-only vehicle can go up to 65 miles per hour before the wheels start shaking.
“It’s a really simple engine design, it’s some pretty awesome engineering from back in the 40’s,” explained Chad.
To help carry the extra weight, the buggy comes with a steel sub-frame.
“That’s about the only thing that we did chassis-wise to strengthen the buggy other than the airbags,” said Chad.
The interior is also something you won’t find in your typical Amish buggy.
“We’ve got a mix of aircraft gauges and car gauges and there’s a handle for emergency fuel shut-off in the event of an accident,” Chad demonstrated.
Because they tried to keep the buggy as authentic-looking as possible, they made compromises on driver protection.
Chad said: “We kept the buggy as original as possible – there’s no safety cage, I’ve got a driver’s seat-belt but it’s still a wooden vehicle.”
Chad usually drives while Mike is charged with the vehicle’s safety.
“The worst thing that can happen is that I have a fuel leak and the engine runs away, or a wheel explodes going down the track – that would be a bad day,” Chad explained.
Still, engineers have praised the contraption and Chad and Mike are understandably proud of their work.
“We’ve had mechanical engineers come up and go: ok you did that alright, you weren’t complete idiots,” joked Mike.
Chad added: “People thought we were nuts and I think that might have even been part of the motivation behind it, to get this thing done.”
“It’s something that’s unconventional, you don’t see it every day and people seem to love it,” said Chad.
Replaced!