Jay Leno Checks Out Flash Gordon's Decopods

We first heard about him when Jay Leno showed the world his tank of a roadster, the Blastolene Special. After that, we were completely blown away by "Piss'd off Pete", a huge machine that was powered by a mighty oil-burning V12 engine that has 71 cubic inch pistons and massive twin 671 superchargers.

Here's this Oregon artist's latest creation. These things are called Decopods and they are based on the Piaggio MP3 three-wheeler scooters, the ones that stay upright when you're sitting at the lights without you having to put your foot down. Grubb loved the idea and though he'd turn the MP3 into "Flash Gordon's personal mobility vehicles" by adding a beautiful Art Deco shell. The streamlined body is accompanied by a couple of small headlights and windshields.


Randy will build six of these vehicles for about $25,000 each. Ever one is supposed to be a little different, which you can clearly see in the photo above. One has indicators, the other has bigger headlight, one has copper down the side while the other has a bumper that goes all the way around.

There's another thing we noticed that's interesting about the Decopods. Rather than shape the whole body from sheetmetal, Randy does what he calls "lapped panel construction", basically long, thin strips of metal which he probably shapes over a wooden shell. This is exactly how viking built wooden ships and it's another reason why $25,000 for one of these babies is a bargain.