By JR Raphael
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Doc Brown’s Delorean may soon have some competition.
Okay, this one won’t travel time, but it will function a bit like the train-adapted machine from the movie’s third installment. Toyota is working on a new “road-rail” vehicle that will — as the name implies — travel along the tracks, then jump off and keep going on the road.
As European news agency AFP reports, the so-called dual mode vehicle will carry as many as 25 people at a time. Its goal is to put rarely-used railroads around the world back to use, without the old limitations.
“Our contribution is expected to be another step toward more practical use,” a spokesperson for Toyota affiliate Hino said.
The dual mode vehicle is powered by diesel and rolls on four iron railroad wheels and four rubber road wheels. Yet-to-be-added are the rotating hover wheels to let it fly high over the skies of Hill Valley, with Jennifer and Einstein securely in tow. Vroom vroom, gentle dog. Vroom vroom.