Toy cars are a compromise: the simple ones "drive" like a roller skate, and the really serious ones are too intricate (and expensive) to just hand over to a mere child. Modarri Cars wants to change that with fun, customizable, modular toy cars with spring suspension and steering just like the real thing.
Battery-operated radio control cars are fun, sure. But there's something soul-pleasing in the rudimentary nature of a toy car that's powered by the perpetual resource that is grubby little fingers and some imagination. Add in the build-it-yourself customizable aspect and the mechanical coolness of these toys, and you've got something that will (hopefully!) inspire the next generation of gearheads. If they can ever pry them from their parents' hands.
To be fair, this is Kickstarter, with no guarantees it'll ever become real. In fact, it's the second Kickstarter campaign Modarri has launched—they cancelled the first one in January, re-launching with a much more attainable funding goal that they've since pushed significantly past. But what they've come up with is a fascinating little gizmo-mobile, great for the tinkering kid inside any of us. [Kickstarter via PopSci]