Remember a Novel with Antigravity Metal and Warping Space?

Question

I read a novel a few years ago that had the following aspects in it:

• Protagonist invented a metal that repelled gravity.
• Used the metal, attached to the fan blade of an IC engine to run the engine without gasoline.
• The vehicle with the engine was in a VW bus. I remember a scene where he linked up with a convoy of cars. The setting was somewhat dystopian; resources were scarce.
• He set up an automated line of robots (I think) to create more of the metal.
• The robots stacked the metal in his factory, and when the ingots reached critical mass, they created a warp to another planet, or somewhere else anyway.

Would love it if anyone could identify this one!

Answer 1

Anti-Grav Unlimited by Duncan Long

Phil Hunter spent six years developing the antigravity rod - an ingenious device that actually controls gravity. As far as Phil is concerned, it's the hottest thing since Galileo. But the international corporations that rule the post-nuclear world are cool to the invention. In fact, Hunter is now being hunted by a lethal pack of hired killers. Luckily, Phil is no slouch. He's the only person who knows how to get to the Moon quicker than you can say "instantaneous transport" - and with a van full of rods and a gorgeous female clone, that's exactly where he's headed...fully intending to give big business the business!

Fun book. They had it for free up on the Baen Free Library for a while, but I don't see it there anymore. Indeed, he hooks the technology up to his van, and eventually figures out how to get to space with it, chiefly through the help of a retired astronaut who's been stockpiling spaceship parts since the government gave up on space exploration. He's opposed by fuel consortiums and the government, who don't want a supply to free energy to potentially liberate the plebians. And yes, in the last few pages, they discover that a critical mass of the rods warps space in a predictable way, forecasting even more fantastic use of them.

Another signature moment for me was the brief mention of a traditional football game with 10 foot tall mutant players and the ceremonial sacrifice of a cheerleader on the 50-yard line. Also, the baglady hitmen.

Incidentally, there are a large number of copies available online, probably mirrors of Baen's original entry. I would, of course, recommend buying a copy, but it could also serve as a way to verify that it's the right book.