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The 1929 Rocket Car of Upstate New York
The 1929 Rocket Car of Upstate New York

Then there were inventors like Daniel D. Hungerford and his brother Floyd S., of Elmira, NY. In 1929, they built their Solar & Interstellar Rocket Car, dubbed the "Shirley Lois Moon Girl" after Daniel's daughter. Made largely of cardboard and linoleum, a 1921 Chevy chassis, and powered by a set of gasoline-burning rocket motors, the thing must have been a fearsome sight on the back roads of rural New York. The lightweight building materials were a safety consideration. "In case of trouble," Daniel said, "I wanted to be able to kick my way out." Amazingly enough, they got the thing registered and licensed in the State of New York.