Out of the 60+ teams signed up to potentially participate in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, there were four teams that brought cars to the big announcement at the New York Auto Show last week. One team we would have liked to see was Aptera with their Type I three-wheeler. But the vehicle was a no-show. But, and here's the crazy rumor part, a little bird told me that the reason for the absence was that the car was involved in some way with the new Star Trek movie. The look certainly fits and Boing Boing has a photo of the car on the set.
I've contacted Aptera to see if they had any official statement on this rumor, but the response has been silence. Perhaps our readers have a bit more information. Anyone?
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1. On Ain't It Cool News, which broke the story and released the pictures, one person relayed information from someone they knew from on the set. According to their source, the Aptera is going to be digitally copied, bluescreened in as multiple "flying cars" in the distance.
Of course, that might seem a bit odd to SoCal residents who should, by then, be used to passing or being passed by the occasional Aptera on the highway ;) They're supposed to start rolling off the lines later this year and they expect to finish all the pre-orders by Q3 of next year. However, I'm sure the producers are counting on people everywhere else not being familiar with the Aptera.
Great, though -- now I'm going to have to watch the movie just for that scene ;) Heh, I can't wait for my Aptera.
Posted at 6:26PM on Mar 26th 2008 by KarenRei