It’s claimed that the Peugeot 888 is the “personal vehicle for the future Metropolis.” I’d have to agree. Created by designer Oskar Johansen from Norway, the car has room for two and all of your luggage, but the best part is that it can shape-shift. The Peugeot 888 will lie flat on the highway for stability and aerodynamics. Once you hit the city, it sits up for easy parking and road sharing.

It also has green in mind for a bright eco-future, since it’s powered by electric motors in each wheel and lithium-ion batteries in the trunk. Oh, and it’s also covered with solar panels. So I think it qualifies as green for a good long while. The 888 is one of many entries in the Fifth Annual Peugeot Design Contest.

The days of working only at an office are long gone. It’s getting harder and harder to stop working and leave our work behind thanks to all of our gadgets. I’m afraid the T6 concept car for workaholics doesn’t help.

Designer Alexander Zhukovsky is to blame should we all end up on the highways working our asses off. It comes complete with all the office space you and your co-workers need. Plus a nice sturdy table so you can have your coffee and get to work. The round sliding door slides up to let the next victim in and closes promptly so you won’t hear the screams.

This concept car called NASA sports an ultra cool look, but the really interesting thing about it is the car’s ability to spin a full 360 degrees on the spot. It can also drive sideways. The design comes from Czech industrial design students Marek Kedzierski and Michal Vlèek and it’s a finalist in the Škoda Auto, competition.

It gets even more interesting. NASA has no doors, the whole canopy lifts up revealing in-line seating for two. Once the passengers are inside, the cockpit closes over the passengers, fitting them snuggly around the neck and head restraint. The only problem I see is that this car capable of going in any direction keeps the driver faced in one direction. Well, that and the fact that it looks like you could be easily decapitated in a car accident.

Everything charges via usb whether we like it or not. That can be a real problem when you are in your car. So naturally you want a way to charge your phone, but the 12V outlet is already powering your GPS unit. That’s not a problem anymore.

This in-car charger is a nice solution, with four extra USB ports. Just plug in your iPod, mobile phone, digital camera, GPS device, or any other USB device. Chances are it’s more then you need to keep all your gadgets charged. And it only costs $23.

I for one thought that we had all the distractions we could handle behind the wheel. Apparently, there was one thing missing. That must be why Maplin introduced a portable microwave oven that runs on 12 Volts DC. Put this baby in the passenger seat and heat up your coffee and breakfast as you’re stuck in traffic.

It’s kind of like carpooling with a cook. It’s probably really made for tailgating parties, but don’t let that stop you from ramming the car in front of you while you heat up the hot pocket of death. The Maplin Car Microwave is available now for about $180, which is a little steep. Might as well cook with gas at that price.

Does this qualify as a Lowrider? I have no idea. It’s claimed that the Vancake is the lowest Volkswagen Bus in the world. Tiny hippies use it to go back and forth between Burning Man and Middle Earth. It measures only 3 feet tall and was originally a VW Camper.

Apparently it manages to be street legal. Designers Just Kampers and Andy Saunders created the Vancake in just three days. They did all the work during the Bug Jam festival at the UK’s Santa Pod Raceway from June 18 to June 20, which consisted of removing the Volkswagen’s roof, putting in an electric sunroof, and completely redoing the paint job. It may be street legal, but it’s just plain wrong.

Have a look at this thing. Can you believe it was built entirely by one man who is not Bruce Wayne? This is Bob Dullam’s replica of Batman’s Tumbler. It’s clearly the work of a mad genius. It looks awesome yes, but he didn’t skimp on the specs. It’s got the afterburner, the huge double-barrel wheels, and the body has all of the stealth angles.

As reference, he used only any and all images that would be available to you or me and the movies. And he did it in his garage. The neighbors must have thought he had gone a bit batty. And yes, he owns his own Bat suit as well.

Designer Nicholas Lee Dunderdale incorporated an adjustable roof into his 3-wheeled Kassou concept car in case you need more headroom. It looks like part vacuum cleaner,part bat, and all funky alien tech. You wouldn’t be surprised if one of “The greys” stepped out of this thing and rammed a probe up your Kassou.

The “neck” can be raised or lowered depending on your need for headroom or better aerodynamics. Who knows what those batwings are for. It’s ultra bizarre, but Kassou earned second place in the Car Design News Contest for 2008. Personally, I think this is the Dark Knight’s ride from an alternate reality, where Bruce Wayne isn’t quite as rich.

Here’s a car to die for…I bet the engine croaked…These things are normally kept underground to prevent 3 coffin pile-ups on the highway. Bad jokes aside, where do you get the gonads to make a car out of a coffin? Isn’t that like thumbing your nose at death? It can only end with a high speed chase,with a very unhappy grim reaper on your tail. Of course it’s a fairly easy mod. You get a new coffin.(Yeah. Don’t go digging up relatives.) Add an engine,wheels steering etc and you’re off.

My first question is how do you get in this thing without a step ladder? My second question is why. As to why, well, this is what happens when an aircraft engineer has a 1968 VW Beetle a lot of time.

Sure, you’ve got your Bigfoots and your Hummers, but there’s just something about seeing a VW Beetle this high off the ground that pleases us. It’s got a new 2.8 Liter engine, which should give it a nice power to weight ratio. It will turn heads so fast you’ll hear the collective cracking of neck bones.

Over at Evil Mad Scientist there is an easy DIY project that will make cleaning fun and better yet, it might encourage your slacker kids to help out a little. Hit the link if you want to see how simple it is.

Basically an unprinted circuit board is attached to an RC car of your choice which is used to mount a dust mop. After that it’s just cleaning and play. This has to be dirt cheap to produce in a factory. Remote controlled cleaning would sell a bunch of cleaning supplies. They got everyone to buy swiffers after all. Check out the video below.

The Proxima Bike/Car Hybrid Concept looks like a pretty slick and futuristic roadster. The idea is that the Proxima is meant to be a convergence of car and a motorbike. It’s a concept by Alvino Design and it sports 2 tandem seats, but as you look from the front to the rear it changes from a car to a bike. Kind of like an automotive mullet I guess, car in front, bike in back. Looks like a very fast bug.

Kevin Core’s awesome Batmobile Case Mod that’s famous around the internet is now up for auction over at eBay. It’s a 1/6 scale Batmobile Tumbler with a desktop PC built inside.

The one of a kind case mod was even featured in Maximum PC magazine in January 2008 and features LED lighting, 7 hard drive activity leds, 3 of which are in the jet exhaust, 1 on each side and 2 in the front. Also has 10 white led headlights, stealth power switch and DVD eject buttons. It’s currently bid up to $227.50, which is a bargain for any Batman-crazy fan. It might even be cooler then the ’66 Lego Batmobile.

MAXON announced their free update for Cinema 4D in May and they’ve got a lot of fans. It has nearly 40 improvements over R9.5. Some people are crazy about it.

One of Maxon’s fans went to a lot of trouble to create a bike inspired by the technology. The Power Racer sports a Maxon themed body, two large jet engine looking cylinders and an awesome look. I don’t know about Maxon, but I know I want this bike/trike/jet thing in my garage.

The REVOLUTE would certainly get you some attention riding around in your neighborhood. It even has a remote that can reconfigure the wheelbase depending on how you want to ride it.

If you have something to say to your fellow humans, personalized messages can be flashed from the display along the entire cockpit!. Harsha Vardhan made the vehicle out of high tech materials like lexan, carbon fiber, etc. The seats inside swivel. Looks like a comfy little vehicle to get crushed in.