After visiting the 2011 Detroit Maker Faire and seeing a different take on the concept, Rizzo was asked if he would build something like it for the Fort Wayne Regional Maker Faire®. He had also seen the vehicle in Detroit, got immediately ramped up, and threw himself into the project.
When asked later why he would spend so much time making something like this, Rizzo responded, “When I first saw a similar vehicle at the Detroit Maker Faire I knew I had to build one. However, being a Maker, I knew it had to somehow be better. With that I purchased an old riding tractor off Craigslist for 20 bucks and the Twinkie Mobile was born.”
“Thought I was going to get in trouble with the wife for spending so much time on the build but when she saw it, the first thing she said was, are you going to make flames shoot out of the pipes?” Wow, Scott, she’s a keeper.
Wherever the Twinkie Mobile goes, so do the children (young and old.) We call Rizzo the Pied Piper when he goes on Twinkie shooting runs. As a result, he has received a number of requests to do paid appearances at parades and other community events throughout Northeast Indiana. As neither of them anticipated this, the wife (Sachi Yanari-Rizzo) should be even happier now.
Scott also happens to be the designer of “The Race”, our highly anticipated new feature of the FWR Maker Faire. You’ll find there’s a drag racing theme going on with this guy. Thanks to Indiana Michigan Power and General Motors for helping us make “The Race” happen. Learn more and get your registrations in as spaces are limited!
Fort Wayne Regional Maker Faire 