The instantly recognizable Chevy 350 V8-powered Rollerskate Car, which was conceived by renowned custom car build Jay Ohrberg, is the subject of a recent video put together by popular automotive YouTube channel Barcroft Cars.
Many of our readers will likely have no idea who Ohrberg is, but we can pretty much guarantee they are familiar with his various automotive creations. Ohrberg made his name building unique cars for film and television and is responsible for various iconic vehicles from both the big and small screen, including the General Lee from the The Dukes of Hazard, KITT from Night Rider, Starsky and Hutch‘s red and white-themed Ford Torino and the DeLorean from Back to the Future, among countless others.
Ohrberg built this 14-foot tall Rollerskate Car in the early 1990s as a tribute to Mel’s Drive-In from the 1973 film American Graffiti – a drive-in diner with waitresses that would bring customers’ food to their vehicles on rollerskates. Power in the gigantic rollerskate comes from a Chevy 350 V8, which sends power to the wide rear drag slicks through a TH350 automatic transmission and a GM 12-bolt rear end. The rollerskate, which has no real suspension components, utilizes a rack-and-pinion steering system.
To access the cabin (if you can really call it that) the driver must first climb a ladder located within the rollerskate’s heel. The rollerskate uses the same driving inputs as a regular car, although it definitely takes some care to ensure it doesn’t flip over while driving. Not surprisingly, passersby always stop and stare when they see this 14-foot tall skate out on the road, although with the car now being a permanent fixture of the Volo Museum in Illinois, it’s not driven in public very often.
Check out the video embedded below to learn a bit more about Jay Ohrberg’s frankly absurd Chevy 350 V8-powered rollerskate.
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Comments
You have to love the tried and true 350…….
… exact … for a far away farm … this could be an entertainment … for 30 min … but that it is…
or a Holiday on Ice Ad car to show off on a street …it should be on roller … but makes no fun to me
It’s the old lady in the shoe’s ex husband. Now we know where the other shoe went to. 🙂
Wonder what this will bring at a future Barrett-Jackson auction?
If you hit a low hanging power line you will be like the headless horseman .
Builder must have had many 350 and tranny combos laying around…If it only goes 20 mph i think most would have used a harbor ‘junk’ tools v-twin – mostly for the electric start.
I’d hate to drive the thing in the wind…… Of course, in NY State where I am, they wouldn’t allow the thing on the road at any rate since it is obviously uninsurable.
Come on let’s be honest here, he came up with the roller skate car because the Wiener Mobile was taken. I could just see this blog hosting a best two out of three quarter-mile race between the Skate Mobile vs the Wiener Mobile.
Got to admit great engineering, finish and detail but one thing for sure, It’s not going to make under the “Limbo Stick”