Several entrepreneurs have started selling inexpensive kits to allow car enthusiasts to shoot flames 2 feet or longer. They say they are seeing surprising interest in their products, which add nothing to performance and are meant strictly for showing off.

"It’s like the new fad," says Clay Miller, CEO of Rasckl Enterprises in Corry, Pa. He says he took orders for his Xtreme Flame Kitz from as far away as Australia and Switzerland when he set up a booth in November at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade expo in Las Vegas.

Race car driver Christian Rado unveiled a modified Scion tC sports car at the same auto accessories show. It will be capable of shooting a 30-foot plume of fire out the back when it’s completed this month.

The car, meant strictly for demonstrations at auto shows, is being made with an array of spy gadgets, as if it had belonged to James Bond. Besides throwing flames, it will be able to lay down an oil slick or a smoke screen.

Rado says amateurs shouldn’t be playing with fire. "Obviously, it’s completely illegal to do something like that on the street," says Rado, president of World Racing. "We’re professionals. We build race cars and show vehicles for a living. We’re not going to endanger ourselves or anybody else."

Sellers of flamethrower kits are careful to fill their websites with disclaimers and warnings, mostly noting that flamethrowers are illegal and are intended only for shows or safe use on private property.

"It’s not intended for street use, and (we) say that all over," says Jeff Schloemer, president of Eat My Flames in Milwaukee.

He says he has sold thousands of the kits over the past year. The twin-tailpipe model costs $45. Professional installation can add $100 to $250.

Fire officials aren’t amused. "My gut feeling is that it should be banned," says James Burns, New York’s state fire administrator and president of the National Association of State Fire Marshals. He cited the kits’ potential to start fires or injure bystanders. "I haven’t seen them, but when I do, I’m going to go after them."

The kits usually work the same way. A spark plug is rigged into the tailpipe. After being revved up, the engine is coaxed into a emitting a stream of unburned gasoline at the flip of a switch. It’s ignited as it is being expelled — producing a modest flame.

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