'Ludicrous' car raises eyebrows at LA auto show

One car among the hundreds on display at the LA Auto Show this week has generated a flurry of headlines -- not all of them complimentary, AFP reports. Despite its whopping $1.1 million price tag, the bright blue Youabian Puma has been called everything from "monstrosity" to "ludicrous" and "insane." The huge vehicle is difficult to miss, near one of the main entrances to the downtown convention center where tens of thousands of motor fans will flock from Friday for the 10-day show. "$1.1-million monstrosity turns heads on showroom floor," headlined the LA Times in its assessment, calling the Hummer-sized vehicle "flat-out bizarre." Autoblog.com called it "weird-looking," and quoted its maker as describing it simply as a "pleasure vehicle." "Larger Than Life Youabian Puma Is Ludicrous Whichever Way You See It," added carscoops.com, another of the online auto media outlets who got a sneak peak during a press previews before the show opens to the public. The car, described as "like a cross-between a sports car and a heavily armored tank" by the LA Times, is huge, at nearly 8 feet wide and over 20 feet long, sitting on outsize wheels 44 inches tall and 21 inches wide. The makers of the vehicle -- designed by an LA plastic surgeon named Dr K. Youabian, according to the LA Times -- defended the vehicle. "You can go places other cars can't," Onnik Hovanesian, a production manager for the company, told the newspaper. "It is the dream design of the car's creator." It is certainly exclusive: there is so far only the one car, which took five years to build. Prospective buyers need to put down $250,000, and wait for 18 months for them to make another one, according to the LA Times. An AFP request for comment from the designer was not immediately responded to.

One car among the hundreds on display at the LA Auto Show this week has generated a flurry of headlines -- not all of them complimentary, AFP reports. Despite its whopping $1.1 million price tag, the bright blue Youabian Puma has been called everything from "monstrosity" to "ludicrous" and "insane." The huge vehicle is difficult to miss, near one of the main entrances to the downtown convention center where tens of thousands of motor fans will flock from Friday for the 10-day show. "$1.1-million monstrosity turns heads on showroom floor," headlined the LA Times in its assessment, calling the Hummer-sized vehicle "flat-out bizarre." Autoblog.com called it "weird-looking," and quoted its maker as describing it simply as a "pleasure vehicle." "Larger Than Life Youabian Puma Is Ludicrous Whichever Way You See It," added carscoops.com, another of the online auto media outlets who got a sneak peak during a press previews before the show opens to the public. The car, described as "like a cross-between a sports car and a heavily armored tank" by the LA Times, is huge, at nearly 8 feet wide and over 20 feet long, sitting on outsize wheels 44 inches tall and 21 inches wide. The makers of the vehicle -- designed by an LA plastic surgeon named Dr K. Youabian, according to the LA Times -- defended the vehicle. "You can go places other cars can't," Onnik Hovanesian, a production manager for the company, told the newspaper. "It is the dream design of the car's creator." It is certainly exclusive: there is so far only the one car, which took five years to build. Prospective buyers need to put down $250,000, and wait for 18 months for them to make another one, according to the LA Times. An AFP request for comment from the designer was not immediately responded to.

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