This Shape-Shifting Car Can Just Drive Over Gridlocked Traffic

Hum Rider

It's fake, but damn if it doesn't look fun.

The Hum Rider is a Jeep Grand Cherokee tricked out with hydraulic lifts that allow it to tower high enough above other cars in front of it. That way, the driver can give traffic a giant middle finger and ride on past the bumper-to-bumper nonsense, unperturbed. Reddit went wild over this thing, presumably because it looks freakin' awesome, and we all hate traffic and grew up watching Inspector Gadget or Transformers reruns.

Of course, this isn't something you can buy. As Mashable reports, though, the car's a one-off marketing play paid for by Verizon Telematic and conceptualized by the agency Thinkmodo. It's an advertising move for the company's Hum dongle, a device that, among other applications, allows parents to track their children's locations. You may remember it from that weird ad aimed at unapologetic helicopter parents of teens. (Or you may not, since I've only seen the ad play while watching my friend's mom's Hulu subscription, so I suspect Verizon is targeting and serving these ads pretty strategically, just saying.)

Asked about this new approach, Verizon's VP of marketing Jay Jaffin told Mashable the new ad is "a bit of a metaphor, taking the ordinary driving experience and making it extraordinary."

One of these Verizon dongles costs $29 and the service -- which offers car diagnostics, roadside assistance, and location and speed tracking -- costs $10 a month.

Eric Vilas-Boas is a writer and editor at Thrillist. Follow him @e_vb_.