Michael Hearst - Unconventional Vehicles: Forty-Five of the Strangest Cars, Trains, Planes, Submersibles, Dirigibles, and Rockets EVER

dedicated to nathan, of course. M. H.

Hey, check out SONGS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL VEHICLES.
There is a micro-tune for each entry in this book! Find the playlist at michaelhearst.com

Text copyright 2021 by Michael Hearst.
Illustrations copyright 2021 by Hans Jenssen.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-7286-6 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-7306-1 (epub, mobi)

Design by Jay Marvel and Abbie Goveia.
Typeset in Museo.

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Its Indias RLV-TD Space Plane. (The RLV stands for Reusable Launch Vehicle.) It took off in 2016 with a successful suborbital mission. Basically, the drawing is here because it fits so nicely on this page... dont you think? It also allows me to give a shout-out to Hans Jenssen, the amazing illustrator for this book. Hi, Hans!

Hey, thanks for reading this intro! Most people skip the intro, so Im really glad youre here. While I have you, heres a question: What do you think of when you hear the word vehicle? Probably a car, right? Yep, a car is definitely a vehicle. But did you know that boats, airplanes, blimps, submarines, bicycles, roller skates, and even grocery carts are vehicles? As far as Im concerned, just about anything that moves (and typically carries something else) can be considered a vehicle. Including animals! Of course, Im not a dictionary. Im just a dude who likes vehicles. Especially unusual, extraordinary, curious, and UNCONVENTIONAL vehicles! BTW, tortilla chips are a type of vehicle, too! Theyre a vehicle for salsa (or cheese dip, if you prefer). And a pencil can be a vehicle for your clever ideas. Here, however, Im thinking we should probably stick with more mechanical-ish things, otherwise well get way out of hand. Though, I kind of like it when things get a wee bit out of hand. This intro is starting to get out of hand. Okay, Ill stop now.

p.s. Look! Im inside a 1950s Isetta three-wheeled bubble car! Please dont park in front of me or Ill never get out the door.

There are SO many kinds of vehicles out there! How about we make a list? An official list. (Of course, its only official because its in this book. Which doesnt really make it official at all.)