IF you’ve ever found yourself in Spokane, Washington, the chances are you’ve come across La Boata - the city’s famous car. Tim Lorentz, the owner of this unique vehicle, bought himself a speedboat for $100 and a Chrysler LeBaron for $700 and merged them together, creating a ride so remarkable that you barely notice La Boata’s tyres when it’s cruising down the highway.
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MotorTranscript
00:00Outrageous, fun, it's unique.
00:11It's different.
00:12I've owned a lot of cars,
00:14but I think there's something
00:15about creating your own car,
00:18and in this case,
00:19even more than that.
00:31If I was to describe Loboda
00:32in three words,
00:34it would be
00:35outrageous, fun, in the sun.
00:38I can't count.
00:39Can we do that over again?
00:45A lot of people ask me
00:46where the idea
00:47for Loboda came from.
00:49I really don't know.
00:50I guess I just thought
00:51it would be cool
00:52to put a boat
00:53on top of a convertible.
00:55The original car
00:56had to be inexpensive
00:57because my wife
00:58wouldn't let me
00:59have the money.
01:00I found that convertible
01:01LeBaron for $700
01:03right around the corner,
01:04in fact,
01:05and once I had procured that,
01:07then I went
01:08and looked for the boat.
01:09I ended up having to buy
01:10this one for $100,
01:12and when I had them both,
01:13then that's when
01:14I started the project.
01:15It only took me three days
01:16to actually complete it.
01:19I knew that I was going
01:20to have to cut
01:21all around the bottom
01:22of the boat
01:23so that I could
01:24just have the shell.
01:25It was not fun.
01:26It was hot out,
01:27and those two days of cutting,
01:29it was long and itchy.
01:32laughs
01:33The LeBaron is
01:34the basic power plant
01:36underneath there.
01:37It is a front-wheel drive
01:39V6 3-liter engine,
01:4120 miles a gallon
01:42around town,
01:4425 on the highway.
01:46Speed-wise,
01:47I think I got it
01:48up to 100 miles an hour.
01:50Don't really think
01:51I need to or want to
01:53go any faster than that.
01:56It handles like a boat
01:57pretty much.
01:58You've probably added
01:59400 or 500 pounds on it.
02:01It's a foot wider
02:02on each side,
02:04but you kind of just
02:05get used to driving it.
02:06It's fun.
02:07People either laugh at me
02:09because I'm crazy
02:10or just laugh
02:11because it's just
02:12a fun thing.
02:15I put an out-drive
02:16on the back.
02:17Recently, I hooked up
02:18a windshield washer to that,
02:19so the water
02:20shoots 30 feet.
02:22I can turn the out-drive
02:23this way and that way,
02:24and that way I can
02:25squirt people on both
02:26sides of the sidewalk.
02:33I drive LaBoda
02:34almost every day.
02:36It has a top
02:37that you can put up
02:38so it can be self-contained
02:40and heated,
02:41but most of the time,
02:42I like to drive it
02:43when the weather's nice.
02:45It's very reliable,
02:46very dependable.
02:48My wife doesn't like
02:49riding in it
02:50because it does attract
02:51too much attention.
02:53If I go into a store,
02:54I can leave it
02:55out in the parking lot,
02:56and usually when you come back,
02:57you find a small crowd of people
02:59looking at it
03:00or taking pictures.
03:01I've never seen
03:02anything like it.
03:03It's so rad.
03:05I think this vehicle
03:06is awesome,
03:07just the way
03:08it's put together
03:09and just a work of art.
03:11When I was driving it,
03:12it looked like it was
03:13literally on the water,
03:14like going down the road.
03:18My wife tolerates the car.
03:21She does not like
03:22getting in and out of it
03:23because there's no
03:24ladylike way of
03:26climbing over the side.
03:28It's not her favorite car.
03:31I've done rides for charity,
03:33and that's kind of
03:34my main thing
03:35to keep my wife happy
03:36because she thinks
03:37it's all about me.
03:39The question I get asked most
03:41is, does it float?
03:43It may float once.
03:45You want to go
03:46try it with me?