Take a secondhand, motorized wheelchair and a discarded Broncos helmet chair and you have — a motorized Broncos helmet chair with beer.
Jesse Martinez of Denver and Dave Landsteiner of Indian Hills premiered their motorized helmet chair Sunday in the parking lot at Invesco Field at Mile High.
All around them barbecue smoke was rising and speakers were being set up for tailgates before the Broncos’ game with the Cleveland Browns.
The two decided to build the chair after someone donated a motorized wheelchair, and a friend found the helmet chair discarded next to a trash bin.
Martinez, 46, said it took three weeks to finish the chair.
“Nobody could picture it, especially when we said we were putting it on wheels,” Martinez said.
The fresh blue paint and the Broncos’ original logo could be seen weaving through the crowd as Martinez and Landsteiner took turns cruising around the parking lot at Invesco Field.
The trailer, a football-shaped toy chest that was converted into a cooler, rolled behind the chair. The trailer can hold about 80 beers, the two said.
“It is all a little goofy,” Landsteiner, also 46, conceded.
Martinez and Landsteiner said the construction of the chair was destined to be.
All of the parts were found in about three days and almost every piece fit perfectly with the next.
“All we had to do was cut a few things and the helmet fit right over the chair,” Martinez said.
A small joystick controls the battery-powered chair. Martinez said there are three speeds — slow, medium and fast.
Debbie Hays of Pueblo snapped photos of the chair and chatted with its engineers.
“I’ve seen all kinds of stuff tailgating, but that is too sweet,” Hays said.
Even the Broncos mascot, Miles, stopped to take a ride on the chair.
Martinez’s older brother Steve said he wasn’t surprised when his brother came up with the idea. Both Martinez brothers build hot rods as a hobby, he said.
“He’s always coming up with something crazy,” Steve Martinez said.
The two said the chair only needs one more modification.
A cup holder.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1638 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
