When we heard that RUB was commissioning Orange County Chopper, of American Chopper fame, to make a mobile barbecue pit, we thought it was a pretty cool idea. We expected it to be a novelty, like a two-headed kitten or the world’s largest ball of string. Nothing prepared us for the mind-numbing coolness of the actual RUB Chopper: The restaurant’s owner, Andrew Fischel, correctly characterizes as “the sickest, baddest thing in the world.”

We had some doubts, too, about the utility of the thing: Was it really that good of an idea to have what amounts to a giant wood oven inches from a gas tank? But the RUB guys have already cooked ribs, brisket, and pork butt on it, and they aren’t dead yet. When asked if it was dangerous, Fischel replied breezily, “I don’t know. No one’s ever built one of these before.” Let’s hope we don’t find out the hard way.

Earlier: Need a Meat-Smoking Sidecar? Call American Chopper!