A run through the online Porsche classified is always good for a laugh, some bigger than others. Today, while scoping out what our friends over at Craiglist had to offer, we stumbled upon the beauty you see below. In case you can’t tell, that’s a Laser 917 Kit car.
If you’re not familiar with the Laser 917 kit, don’t feel bad. It was a kit car available in the ’70’s and 80’s that tried real hard to mimic Porsche’s 917 but just couldn’t quite get there. Perhaps, its biggest issue was that it was built to use a VW Beetle as its frame. Given the super short wheel base of the underlying donor, the rest of the 917’s kit were way out of proportion. Look at the size of those headights, they’re bigger than the green house on some early 911s. What about interior room? Think it looks spacious? Guess again. Check out the video below and you’ll see you need to be a contortionist to think about driving one of these.
Back to the car at hand. The Laser 917 in question is currently for sake in the Tuscon area of Arizona. Purchased by a pair of brothers who just couldn’t help themselves, the body sat around for a year before they decided to take a stab at pairing it with a VW. The duo purchased a ’64 VW with a 1600 cc dual port motor and a 12V electrical system and decided to give it a go.
Realizing quickly, that their VW come Porsche would never be lightning fast, or even remotely quick, they decided to gadget it out with the following features:
- FLAME THROWER: Yes, that’s right, this 917 wannabe has a flame thrower. According to the advertisement, the brothers “developed a propane-based flame thrower that sticks up from the roof at about 45 degrees. While less spectacular than having flames come out the exhaust pipes, it’s also much less dangerous.” Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.
- TASER HOOD ORNAMENT: As if the Flame Thrower wasn’t dangerous enough, the brothers decided that instead of a Porsche badge (no one would ever believe it’s a real Porsche anyway, that they would use a stun gun because they were “impressed by the 2″ spark and ripping sound it made”. Let’s hope no one ever tries to caress the hood.
- HOVERCRAFT LOOK: I’m not even sure what to say about this
improvementoption. The Laser isn’t the best looking 917 kit, but this just takes it over the top from bad to outright horrible. - BACK-up CAMERA: There’s no real windshield to speak of, so the back-up camera gives you some idea if you’re enemies are creeping up on you and it’s time to deploy the flame thrower.
Amazingly, this thing is, according to the seller, street legal. I would want to double check on that. Seriously, what this 917 Laser needs to come with is a gift card to your local chiropractor. Look at that drivers position in the video!
Here’s where I’m stumped, they’re asking $4800. I can’t figure out if that’s a good price of if they should pay someone to take it off their hands. What say you?
[Source: Craigslist]
