Florida man spent two years crafting street-legal car using real aircraft parts to look like WWII fighter

This Florida man invested two years into creating a street-legal car out of aircraft parts, all in a bid to make it look like a WWII fighter.

We’ve all seen those WWII fighter planes with the scary faces painted on the front of them, right?

Well, James Trudeau, from Punta Gorda, has bought one to the streets of his town.

It might not be scaring enemy combatants, but it sure is cool.

Planes and cars mix more than you might expect

To most people, planes and cars exist in entirely different spheres.

But believe it or not, they sometimes cross over in quite unexpected ways.

There truly is no limit to human creativity and ingenuity.

Just take a look at Klein Vision’s AirCar for proof of that.

Then there was the Blackfly and the Aska A5, two additional examples of ‘flying cars’.

And if you want to get really literal about it, there are some cars out on the road that used to be planes.

Remember Elvis’ private jet that became a RV?

Well, this time around, we’ve got a car that’s been made to resemble a plane.

This Florida man has created a car that resembles a WWII fighter

James Trudeau is the creator of this remarkable car-plane hybrid.

It all began in 1986, when he was injured on the job as a cop and switched over to test-flying aircraft as his day job.

In his spare time, he was working on cars.

You can see where the two interests merged together.

In 2008, he embarked on a truly ambitious endeavor – creating a road-legal homage to the P-40.

The P-40 fighter-bomber has been flown all around the world, and 14,000 built during WWII.

Only 28 remain airworthy today.

What better way to pay homage to this 350mph bruiser than building a car bearing its resemblance?

“Construction took about two years. All the sheet metal is T-28, reformed to match the P-40’s silhouette,” Trudeau told Hagerty.

“My canopy is a cut-down T-28 component and the electrical panel also came from a T-28. 

“Interestingly,  my repurposed airspeed indicator provides an accurate mph reading.

“What was originally the T-28’s control lever for adjusting fuel mixture and propeller pitch works nicely as my gear shifter. My cockpit is equipped with two tandem bucket seats from a T-28 with parachutes serving as cushions.”

The powertrain at the heart of this was a 454 cubic-inch V8 from a 1972 Chevy Suburban.

And yes, this is road-legal.

The DMV inspector took a look at some photos and declared it a ‘show car’.

He ended up selling it off

For a while, the car-plane served as a show car at more than a dozen shows, where it was a crowd-pleaser.

But then a man from Belgium made him an offer he couldn’t pass up – he was offering 20 times more than had been invested into making the car.

“Reluctantly, I let my creation go to attend to two other cars in my collection: a 2014 Fiat 500 repowered with a Mercury Marine four-cylinder engine and a 1955 Bonneville belly tanker,” Trudeau said.

“I’m also working on a 1939 Indy racer once owned by Barney Oldfield.”

As they say, parting is such sweet sorrow.

But then again, when you have a truly spectacular offer on the table, it’s hard to pass up.