It's a wedge-shaped sports car from the late 1970s that once had a role in a popular science-fiction movie.
But despite its futuristic styling, it never achieved much popularity.
No, it's not the DeLorean DMC-12. It's the Urba Centurion, a diesel-powered kit car that it's still possible for you to build today.
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The car uses a Triumph Spitfire chassis and an 18-horsepower, three-cylinder Kubota diesel engine.
It was originally designed to achieve 128 mpg and--thanks to that futuristic styling--had a cameo in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Total Recall.
While many companies have marketed kit cars that marry a custom body with an existing chassis, building a Centurion is a little more involved.
Urba Centurion (photo by owner Jerry Bartlett)
The only thing provided to a prospective builder is a set of relatively detailed plans.
From there, Urba fabricators must source all of the required parts--Spitfire chassis may be harder to come by these days--and then create the fiberglass body from scratch.
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If that sounds appealing to you, the plans are still available for $95, through a company called Robert Q. Riley Enterprises.
And those plans made it possibly for one dedicated enthusiast to complete a Centurion roughly 30 years after first seeing one.
Urba Centurion (photo by owner Jerry Bartlett)
Inspired by the 1982 article in Mechanix Illustrated that originally introduced the car to a wide audience, Jerry Bartlett built a Centurion of his own, a process detailed along with other projects on his Diesel-Bike.com website.
The Centurion was originally billed as capable of 128 mpg, but Bartlett has achieved over 200 mpg at the Toyota Green Grand Prix, a fuel-efficiency competition held at the Watkins Glen race track in upstate New York.
Bartlett believes there are only three Centurions in existence: his car, the Total Recall movie car, and a fully-restored example at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to the museum, the Centurion's 128-mpg figure only applies to constant driving at 35 mph. Staffers say they've averaged 40 mpg in real-world driving.
Urba Centurion
The Urba does present a few drawbacks, however. For one, its 1960s Triumph Spitfire platform makes for a very small car--so small that it's dwarfed by modern subcompacts.
The Centurion stands just 41 inches tall, and the driver sits just four inches above the pavement.
Despite the petite proportions, the three-cylinder diesel engine can't exactly muster blinding acceleration either. Top speed is just 55 mph.
Still, anyone with the patience to build an entire car from a set of blueprints can probably handle some leisurely cruising.
[hat tip: Rick Feibusch]
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