Enslaved Princess Not Included

Hutt Wheels for Sale

from E Online

Apparently, Jabba the Hutt's ride can be quite the chick magnet.

"Oh, yeah, it's definitely proved useful in that," says Neal Ormond. "It's definitely comfortable on the inside."

"It" is the JL421 Badonkadonk, a "completely unique, extremely rare land vehicle and battle tank," with a 400-watt sound system, a fully carpeted interior, a top speed of 40 mph - and a price tag of $19,999.95. The Badonkadonk, or Donk for short, is not street legal, and is not to be confused, although it has been, with Jabba the Hutt's sail barge from Return of the Jedi.

Ormond, a Palo Alto, California-based designer, built the Donk with the help of like-minded associates, and without the help, or blessing, of Lucasfilm. Ormond says he hasn't heard a word from George Lucas' Star Wars base camp about his homegrown transport device. Yet.

"No, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the next call," Ormond said Wednesday.

The Donk quietly went on sale last October through Amazon.com. (It was available Ormond's firm, NAO Design, even before that.) But all was relatively quiet on the battle-tank front until the last week, when it was "discovered" by Netizens, in general, and Jedi followers, in particular.

"It is instantly recognizable by Star Wars fans...Everybody who sees it says, 'Oh, my God,' " says Philip Wise, Webmaster of the leading Star Wars fan site, TheForce.net.

Although it began life as a humble go-cart, the Donk seats up to five and passengers to "cozy" carpet and accent lighting. (Jabba's sail barge, after all, was a "pleasure ship," Wise reminds.)

Despite featuring all the comforts of Tatooine, Ormond says he didn't seriously consider bringing Donks to the masses until Amazon approached him last fall. And now that he has considered selling them, he hasn't. Sold any, that is.

Wise says he wouldn't be surprised if a Star Wars fan broke the bank to buy one.

Lack of demand isn't necessarily a bad thing. Right now, only one Donk exists. And since Ormond says it's going on three years old, he probably wouldn't sell that one. He figures it might take six to eight months once an order is made to complete a new custom one.

In the meantime, Ormond's working on other "cool stuff," like, um, a flame-thrower. ("Not a destructive one," he promises). What about something that levitates, maybe like a skyhopper?

"The flying version is two or three down the road," Ormond says.