I Turned A Boat Into A Car

Ridiculous Rides

IF you’ve ever found yourself in Spokane, Washington, the chances are you’ve come across La Boata - the city’s famous car. Tim Lorentz, the owner of this unique vehicle, bought himself a speedboat for $100 and a Chrysler LeBaron for $700 and merged them together, creating a ride so remarkable that you barely notice La Boata’s tyres when it’s cruising down the highway.

Transcript

00:00Outrageous, fun, it's unique.

00:11It's different.

00:12I've owned a lot of cars,

00:15but I think there's something about creating your own car,

00:18and in this case, even more than that.

00:30If I was to describe La Boda in three words,

00:33it would be outrageous fun in the sun.

00:38Can't count, can we do that over again?

00:45A lot of people ask me where the idea for La Boda came from.

00:49I really don't know.

00:50I guess I just thought it would be cool

00:52to put a boat on top of a convertible.

00:55The original car had to be inexpensive

00:57because my wife wouldn't let me spend the money.

00:59I found that convertible LeBaron for $700,

01:02right around the corner, in fact.

01:04And once I had procured that,

01:07then I went and looked for the boat.

01:09I ended up having to buy this one for $100.

01:12And when I had them both,

01:13then that's when I started the project.

01:15It only took me three days to actually complete it.

01:19I knew that I was gonna have to cut

01:20all around the bottom of the boat

01:23so that I could just have the shell.

01:25It was not fun, it was hot out,

01:27and those two days of cutting,

01:29it was long and itchy.

01:32The LeBaron is the basic power plant underneath there.

01:38It is a front-wheel drive, V6, 3-liter engine,

01:4220 miles a gallon around town, 25 on the highway.

01:46Speed-wise, I think I got it up to 100 miles an hour.

01:50I don't really think I need to or want to go any faster than that.

01:56Handles like a boat, pretty much.

01:58You've probably added 400 or 500 pounds on it.

02:01It's a foot wider on each side,

02:04but you kind of just get used to driving it.

02:06It's fun.

02:07People either laugh at me because I'm crazy

02:10or just laugh because it's just a fun thing.

02:13I put an out-drive on the back.

02:17Recently, I hooked up a windshield washer to that

02:19so the water shoots 30 feet.

02:21I can turn the out-drive this way and that way,

02:24and that way I can squirt people

02:26on both sides of the sidewalk.

02:33I drive LaBoda almost every day.

02:37It has a top that you can put up

02:38so it can be self-contained and heated,

02:41but most of the time, I like to drive it

02:43when the weather's nice.

02:45It's very reliable, very dependable.

02:48My wife doesn't like riding in it

02:50because it does attract too much attention.

02:53If I go into a store,

02:54I can leave it out in the parking lot,

02:56and usually when you come back,

02:57you find a small crowd of people looking at it

03:00or taking pictures.

03:01Never seen anything like it.

03:03It's so rad.

03:05I think this vehicle is awesome.

03:07Just the way it's put together and just a work of art.

03:11When I was driving, it looked like it was literally

03:13on the water, like going down the road.

03:17My wife tolerates the car.

03:20She does not like getting in and out of it

03:22because there's no lady-like way of climbing over the side.

03:27It's not her favorite car.

03:30I've done rides for charity,

03:32and that's kind of my main thing to keep my wife happy

03:36because she thinks it's all about me.

03:37The question I get asked most is,

03:41does it float?

03:42It may float once.

03:44You want to go try it with me?

03:46True?

03:47There you go.

03:50There you go.

03:52All right.

03:52There you go.

03:54Everybody look.

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