Traversing the vast and varied landscapes of Siberia has always been a challenge. From the deep snow to the naked ice to the expanses of water and marshes, no one vehicle could cover them all until the A-3 Aerosledge. The A-3 was created to navigate all of these environments with ease. Designed in the post-WWII USSR by famed aeronautics engineer Andrei Tupolev, the vehicle was a propellor-driven amphibious sled that allowed access to even the most hostile, otherwise-unreachable areas.

Tupolev’s main directive was to design a vehicle that would be able to deliver mail and medical supplies to remote communities or to transport passengers to the nearest medical facility. The craft was small and light enough that it could be transported via helicopter to wherever it was needed.

The A-3 looked like a futuristic speedboat complete with gullwing doors. Its body was incredibly lightweight and watertight, featuring three separate watertight compartments that allowed the craft to stay afloat even if one of the chambers became flooded. A slightly upturned bow and clever design meant that as the A-3’s speed increased, it would slightly hover above snow or water. This was a particularly helpful feature when it came to zipping around on light, fluffy snow that would have slowed down any other power sled.

Inside, the passenger compartment could carry up to a maximum of 1,443 pounds over ice and 661 pounds traveling over water. There was enough room for a driver and plenty of cargo, or a driver and four passengers when additional seating was installed.

Only around 800 A-3 Powersledges were ever manufactured, with production ceasing in the early 1980s. Only one – a 1978 model – was known to have made it to the US, after the new owner found it in Russia and had it restored to pristine working condition with the help of experts from around the world. It was sold at auction in 2007 for $187,000 and again in January 2015 for $220,000.

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Each generation has its signature popular culture atmosphere, and in the 80s part of the popular culture involved flashy cars and flashy interiors to match. The TV show Knight Rider inspired car companies to create dashboards that were almost as brightly-lit and futuristic as KITT 2000, the super-advanced talking car and secondary star of the aforementioned show. Above: the incredible Lancia Orca, with so many things happening on the digital dashboard and button-filled steering wheel that it would almost require a special class to learn all of the features.

The colorful displays on the Trans Am (left) and Corvette (right) look more like decorations than useful tools for keeping track of car-related information. But, provided that your eyes could adjust from looking out at a bright road to looking at these garish dashboard displays, they did contain all of the information needed to drive safely.

The Citroen BX Digit, on the other hand, looks so much like a video game that it would be hard to keep your eyes off of it long enough to watch the road ahead.

On the tamer side of this futuristic dashboard trend was the Alpha Romeo 90 QO. The oddly-slanted speedometer is actually rather cool, but we imagine it would be hard to find the little green light indicating your speed when there is any other source of light present (like the sun).

Buick was really devoted to this trend, as seen in this 1990 model on the left and 1989 model on the right. The 1989 model even featured a touchscreen computer in the dash, something that we would find pretty mundane these days but which would have been extraordinary then.

Two Citroen models, the Karin (on the left) and the Xenia (on the right) feature some rather baffling design choices. The steering wheels and their bizarre shapes are just the beginning. With all of those buttons, would you be able to keep your eyes on the road while searching for the right one?

(via: DRB)

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If you’re anything like us, you have watched the Back to the Future movies about a million times and drooled over the sweet DeLorean every single time. That sexy body with the crazy gull-wing doors had us wishing (for maybe the first and last time) that we could switch places with Michael J. Fox. Lucky for everyone who has ever lusted after the iconic car, a brand-new, all-electric DeLorean will soon hit the streets.

The DeLorean Motor Company of Texas plans to release their modern update of the classic (but previously failed) sports car in 2013. It will be lighter and far more technologically advanced than its 1980s predecessor – and did we mention it’s all-electric? It has a range of about 70-100 miles on a single charge. Thanks to a radical overhaul under the hood, the performance of this new version should finally match up to the speed and power promised by the gorgeous body.

The updated car is still in the prototype stage at the moment, but it’s getting closer to production every day. No word yet on whether converting it into a time machine will void the warranty.

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