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Land a UFO-Shaped Prefab That's Seen Better Days for $30K

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The Futuro wasn't the first flying saucer-like prefab around, but it might be the most flying saucer-like, which saying a lot, considering how often the shoe fits with lightweight, mobile, mass-produced holiday homes. Designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968 and discontinued in the mid-'70s, when an oil crisis made plastic prohibitively pricey, they've become something of a collectors item, with only an estimated 50 or 60 left standing. One of these rare birds recently popped up on eBay looking a little worse for wear, with a "Buy It Now" price of $29.9K. Might it be time to invest a good chunk of change into a one-room polyurethane orb?

Currently parked at a marina in the New Jersey town of Berlin, this Futuro served as a kind of tabula rasa UFO for various sci-fi-themed carny funhouses at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, N.J. (Its Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars makeovers are all pictured below.) According to the seller, it was last owned by a "furniture creator" who remade the window openings and added two coats of Interlux paint, and though it's pictured without the hatches or landing gear, those will come out of storage once the deal is made. To be sure, what's on offer is little more than a shell, but it could look quite fetching if restored to its former glory. Any takers?

· Rare Futuro Home Pops Up On eBay, Fulfilling Your Dream To Live In An Old 'Star Wars' Ride [HuffPo]
· All prefab coverage [Curbed National]