October 4, 2007
Not only are the Dragon steel sculptures impressive on their own, they are also fully functioning barbeques.
Artist Ed McBride has created two welded steel dragon barbecues, with a third in the works. The first in the series was sold for $65,000 at the Safari Club International 33rd Annual Hunters' Convention. The second in the series is currently up for sale at $90,000 and will be the biggest of the three.
The second barbecue in this series will be a towering 9 feet in height with a 10 feet wide wingspan. A theatrical touch was added in that propane powered flames will erupt from between the dragon's teeth. Also, a small dragon is used to heat a dutch cooking oven with its "dragon breath." It's first, and maybe only, showing will be at the SCI convention in Reno, Nevada in January
The third in the series will be the smallest of the three, costing $40,000. It will be 6 feet in height and length, and is scheduled to be completed in late 2007.
You can read more about the sculptures and see what other things Ed McBride has created, at his website HERE.
(via BornRich)
Posted by Ghostshark under Design, Unique | Comments (0)
October 3, 2007
Bari Hotchkiss is selling his former Titan missile base.
Bari bought the base 10 years ago from the original owners, who had bought it in the 1970's from the government after the Titan missiles we deemed obsolete and the base shutdown. Bari was using it s a summer camp, and has now decided to sell.
The base is located near remote Moses Lake in the northwest state of Washington. The base itself is 43,000 square feet in size with a vast underground network of tunnels and rooms, sits on 56 acres of land, and was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. The asking price might be a little steep at $1.5 million, but the base is supposed to be well preserved, and it could always be converted into a unique home or a haven for a hard core survivalist.
There are a number of former U.S. bases for sale, and you can see what other have done with their's at the MissileBases site HERE.
(via LuxuryLaunches)
Posted by Ghostshark under Unique | Comments (0)
September 26, 2007
The Ferretti 630 looks like your standard $3.2 million dollar yacht, but it has something special up it's sleeve. The 630 come with an Anti Rolling Gyro that stops the boat from rocking from side to side, which is the primary cause of sea sickness.
Created by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Anti Rolling Gyro system was created for use in satellites to prevent them flying off course in the event of an impact. The system uses a 154lb steel and aluminium gyroscope located in the bottom of the hull, which is powered by an electric motor. When the boat starts to tilt, the spinning gyroscope compensates for the angle to keep the boat upright, even in choppy seas. The system can be used anytime from when the boat is at anchored to when it's at optimum speed.
You're not just paying for a steady ship, however. The Ferretti isn't short on luxury, though it is on the smaller side holding only 18 people total. You can check out pictures of the interior, get all the tech specs and so on at the Ferretti site HERE.
(via Luxury Launches)
Posted by Ghostshark under Unique, Water | Comments (0)
September 21, 2007
The world's first gullwing Ferrari limo was shown off at the annual European Limousine and Chauffeur Show in England this month. The modified Ferrari 360 Modena, that was commissioned by Style Limousines of Manchester, cost nearly $400,000 to modify. Instead of the normal limo seating, passengers sit in racing style seats, all facing forward, and access the vehicle via the 9-foot gullwing doors on either side. The car is also being billed as the fastest limo in the world, because despite having a 23-foot-long body, it can still get from 0-60 in less than 6 seconds and has a top speed of 170 mph.
You can catch more pictures of the car over at Luxury Launches HERE.
Posted by Ghostshark under Cars, Unique | Comments (0)
September 7, 2007
If you're going to be in Berlin anytime soon, you should give this a try and tell me what it's like.
The Cool Hunter has an article about the company Kart4You that rents out go-karts that you're allowed to go driving around the city in. The karts are apparently street legal, so you can drive them on the city roads as if they were real cars. I can see this being a blast with a few friends, and a very easy way to get around town.
You can hit the web site HERE, but it's in German, and I didn't see an English translatio, so you might have to get it translated to really get anything out of it. They do have some videos though, which might shed some light on things.
Posted by Ghostshark under Travel, Unique | Comments (0)
September 3, 2007
Vineyard Estates is a new project in Charlottesville, Virginia on the grounds of the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. The project is to create a new global wine region with the sale of high end real estate and land. There are currently 24 plots to be sold ranging from 3 to 32 acres with one of six different styles of homes that can be built. Each area of land will have vines for making wine, and the owners can do as little as selling the grapes to the Kludge Estate Winery, up to bottling the wine under their own label.
The area is a venture between winemaker Patricia Kluge and First Colony Resorts, and will use 511 acres of the current 2,00 of the current vineyard. The homes can be customized to the owner's preference and range in price from $6 million to $23 million, depending on the home and size of the plot you buy.
You can read more about the Vineyard Estates at their site HERE.
(via Luxist)
Posted by Ghostshark under Unique, Wine | Comments (0)
August 29, 2007
I'll admit that this is probably one of those things I might actually think about buying if money was no object, even then though, I'd have trouble parting with the $1 million this costs.
Watchmaker Richard Mille has created the Planetarium-Tellurium. This one-of-a-kind mechanical device replicates the movements of Earth, Venus, Mercury, the Sun and the Moon. Except for the mercury, all the planets rotate around the Sun and around their own axes to offer precise positioning. The clock also works as a calendar, showing the current signs of the Zodiac.
Mille enlisted the counsel of an astronomer-physicist to help ensure the accuracy of the clock. The mechanical system is so good it will lose 1 degree every 7.7 years regarding the axis of the Earth, but most of the other calculations, like the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, should be accurate within 1 degree for the next two million years.
The hefty price tag for this item comes not only from the work to build it, and one-of-a-kind status, but also that it's made from titanium, steel, brass, gold, silver, and red corundum.
You can read more about the clock over at Technabob HERE, or for a more detailed background, at the Horomundi site HERE.
(via BornRich)
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August 9, 2007
The company Aeros has created the Aeroscraft ML866, which is scheduled for a launch next month at the NBAA 60th Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta. The craft has a top speed of 155mph, a cruising speed of 120mph, a range of 3,100 miles, and can get up to 12,000 feet. The air transport utilizes a mishmash of buoyant and dynamic lift creating unique operational capabilities, which are not delivered by any other air platform. This new design means it to take off vertically like a helicopter, allowing it to utilize almost any open space.
The really interesting part here is that it has over 5,000 square feet of interior compartment space. One of the Aeroscraft's configurations to be offered is an airborne business center that will be equipped with an automated office, video conferencing facility, a sophisticated communications package, transformable interior, personal state room and a physical conference space.
In time though, you have to think that there's a good chance that someone is going to take one of these, and make it a flying luxury yacht. It wouldn't get you anywhere very fast, but it would be a very comfortable way to get there in that it could basically be made into your own flying house.
You can read all of the details about the ship at the Aeros site HERE.
(via BornRich)
Posted by Ghostshark under Travel, Unique | Comments (0)
July 31, 2007
This would make an unique gift for someone, or maybe just a really great voodoo doll of your boss. Hero Builders will take a picture of someone, and make custom action figure for them, complete with clothes, other accessories . They can even make them say something if you want.
There's a bunch of examples on the site, and although it's a little expensive for your own mini-me, the process seems pretty painless. You just need to send them some photos, and they'll get to work. You also get to approve the figure before after the head is sculpted, so you'll know what your getting and how good it will look.
You can look through some of the past figures, pricing, and so on at the site HERE.
Posted by Ghostshark under Unique | Comments (0)
July 9, 2007
Although it sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, you can now purchase Dracula's castle.
Bran Castle is the family castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, the cruel ruler that inspired Bram Stoker's "Dracula". It's been running as a museum as per an agreement with the Romanian government, and that agreement is set to expire in 2009. For that reason, the castle is now up for sale, and is expected to go for upwards of $135 million. However, only buyers who "will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect" will be considered. Which means once you buy it, you can't turn it into some sort of gothic spring break party place.
(via Luxist)
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Not only are the Dragon steel sculptures impressive on their own, they are also fully functioning barbeques.
