One country in the Americas recently tossed out a president so red he might as well have been from Mars. As such, let’s take a moment to imagine what he might look like on his long drive home. Sad!

1. Ferrari Modulo

Photo credit: Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0

Curse the short-sighted fools at Pininfarina who couldn’t see the limitless potential of the Ferrari 512S Modulo and only made one – ONE! – unit. The Modulo weighs 900 kg and has a 5L v12 that takes it from 0 to 100 in 3 seconds. It’s won 22 design awards! Though we suspect that about 20 of those might have been snuck in by envious aliens.

2. Alfa Romeo Disco Volante

Photo credit: Flavmi, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Italians have one more considerable talent to add to the list - capitalizing on conspiracy theories. In 1952, when flying saucers were all the rage, they released a model called… the flying saucer (Disco Volante, capiche?). Only 4 of 5 units ever produced Alfa Romeo 1900 C52s remain, which is unfortunate because the technical characteristics suggest that this must’ve been quite a car.

3. Eliica

Photo credit: Anetode, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Eliica was an electric minibus prototype built in Japan in 2004. Too bad it was just a prototype because its top speed was 370 kmph and it went 0-100 in just 4 seconds. You’d make Earth proud while smoking aliens off the starting line with numbers like that.

4. Aptera 2e

Photo credit: Alison Cassidy, CC BY-SA 3.0

This three-wheeled beauty was never released as a serial model. We’re starting to see a pattern here. This electrically powered beauty was designed in 2008 and was built primarily of recycled materials. Because it didn’t meet automobile safety requirements, the manufacturers called it a motorcycle. It was also filmed in the Star Trek series.

5. Porsche 550

Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0

This car first saw light in 1953 and was alive for three years, though almost all of the 90 units manufactured were used for racing. It did great in the 1-1.5-liter class, often placing among the top three. Later, the design inspired a very popular series of children’s push cars.

6. Volkswagen XL1

Photo credit: RudolfSimon, CC BY-SA 3.0

The heads of Volkswagen clearly believe that 1 is a holy number. That must be why they created this hybrid diesel masterpiece that burns 0.9 l of fuel per 100 kms and costs 111,000 Euros. Besides the looks and the efficiency, however, it’s not much to look at. The engine is barely 0.3 l in size, so the acceleration is… tectonic.

7. Norman Timbs Special

Photo credit: Rex Rogers

An engineer named Norman Timbs built this cosmic soap dish after World War II. He did it at home alone over 3 years using a Buick as a base for a load of parts from other vehicles. The whole thing barely reached 1 meter in height. It was discarded but was found, restored and modified more than a decade ago.

8. Kia Futuron

This concept model was presented at the Geneva car show in 2019. KIA was unashamed of the fact that the body design was inspired by fantastic visions of what a galactic civilization might look like. The most surprising (and just about only) fact about the car was that it would be electric. What a surprise! Our money would’ve been on coal power, of course.

9. Phantom Corsair

Photo credit: Alden Jewell, CC BY 2.0

This 1938 prototype was about half a century ahead of its time in terms of technology, design and ergonomics. See how there aren’t any door handles? You open it with the power of your mind, just like you’d expect of an intergalactic spaceship. It still runs perfectly today.

9 cars that look like flying saucers

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