SKIRMISHER

Henry Smolinski and Hal Blake’s cool idea was putting flight instruments and controls in a 1971 Ford Pinto, then calling it by the name, “Mitzar,” which is the name of the next-to-the-last star in the Big Dipper and literally means “horse.”

The “crazy” idea worked for a while, until late in 1973, when the wings broke off during takeoff (that’s a rhyme!) and the two visionary engineers found themselves hurtling down while still onboard the suddenly wingless Pinto.

Let’s all pause for the dramatic Star Wars-meets-Crash sound effect.

LINK via METAFILTER

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