Gimme Some Wheels

This seems to be the day for stories related to wheels:


First, there is the hypertrophied Batmobile from the upcoming flick Batman Begins, due next year. Whatever happened to the 1966 rocket powered version of the car? I bet Alfred loves washing and waxing this monster.


Next, the ultimate off road mod for the Segway. A company in Seattle rents this thing out for parties.


Finally, some of you may know that I don't ordinarily favor anything evangelical. But here is a story about a religious mission that is filling a gaping need in third world countries. They are providing free wheelchairs. The wheelchair is designed from those awful plastic lawn chairs, combined with some steel tubing, and a couple of bicycle wheels. Cost: $42US. Commercial wheelchairs can cost hundreds of dollars, way out of reach in countries where the average person doesn't earn that much in a year! The Free Wheelchair Mission shipped 10,000 chairs in December alone. They also have roll-your-own plans posted. This is a huge boon, especially in those countries with legacy land mine problems.