Former IndyCar driver Davey Hamilton tries his hardest to go the right direction on the race track, but back home in Indiana, hed prefer facing the wrong way in a 1952 Ford pickup.The story comes courtesy of %7B%22provider_name%22:%22YouTube%22,%22provider_url%22:%22https:%5C/%5C/www.youtube.com%5C/%22,%22object_url%22:%22https:%5C/%5C/youtu.be%5C/>%22,%22type%22:%22oembed%22,%22channels%22:%5B%22desktop%22,%22tablet%22,%22phone%22%5D%7D target=_blank rel=noopener>Barcroft Cars’ Ridiculous Rides, which profiled Hamilton and his ridiculous custom truck built to be driven down the road bed-first.Construction started by essentially turning the body around on the frame. The engine now resides in the bed, while the gas tank sits under the hood. Power comes from a Chevy 350 (sacrilege!) connected to a Turbo 350 transmission.The interior has undergone a complete transformation, besides the seats just being turned around. A section of the rear cab had to be cut out for Hamilton to put his feet somewhere, never mind the pedals. The steering wheel now comes up at an angle more akin to a bus, and the entire dashboard is a custom-fabricated piece. The backwards truck is without a doubt a confusing creation, even befuddling Hamilton himself like when he enters the truck, for example, since the drivers side door is now on the passenger side.Hamilton says people get a kick out of it, and that its fun when it makes somebodys day. And at the end of it, thats what hot-rodding is all about, isnt it? Having fun, and not taking life too seriously too many people have that
Origin: Racer builds 1950s Ford truck that drives backwards
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Volvo’s SUV growth drives record sales
Volvo has recorded record sales in the first half of 2019, with the success of its SUV range helping the firm sell 340,286 cars – including strong growth in the UK market. The Swedish firm’s global sales between January and June were up 7.3 per cent on 2018, despite the struggles of the global car market. The growth has been driven by Volvo’s SUV range, which accounted for 60.7% of its total sales. Volvo sold 30,026 sales in the UK in the first six months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent. The firm also reported growth of 32 per cent in Germany and 10.2 per cent in China, despite the European and Chinese car markets continuing to decline. Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson said the results showed the firm was now “a real premium alternative” as a brand. Those strong sales helped Volvo achieve record revenues of 130.1 billion SEK (£11 billion), a 5.9 per cent year-on-year increase. The firm’s operating profit was down, due to a series of cost-cutting measures and investment in research. The XC60 SUV was Volvo’s best-selling model in the first half of 2019, with 50,946 sales. That was 0.1 per cent down year-on-year, largely due to a fall in sales in Sweden. Volvo also sold 32,961 examples of the new XC40 small SUV, up 88.3 per cent on
Origin: Volvo’s SUV growth drives record sales
Bill Gates drives Vancouver-made electric Porsche 356 replica to Dairy Queen
Billionaires — they’re just like us! At least, that’s the impression two of the world’s biggest might’ve given off in a recent video with a sweet Canadian classic car cameo. Bill Gates recently released a video himself of him and his buddy, Warren Buffett, pulling a shift at Dairy Queen — which Buffett owns, who knew!? — where they delighted customers by offering soft-serve cones that looked like they’d been drawn by Salvador Dali, learned the art of the upside-down Blizzard, and chatted about investing. But what piqued our interest in this three-minute spot wasn’t the investment advice or comic value of two billionaires serving fast food to the public, but the red Porsche 356 convertible with British Columbia plates and the words Electra Meccanica across the side. It’s a car we recognize, having gotten behind the wheel of a similar model in blue last year, the sole one in existence at the time. The 356 eRoadster is an open-top Porsche 356 replica that has been converted to electric power by Vancouver-based EV startup Electra Meccanica. Parent company Intermeccanica has been building 356 replicas in Vancouver since the late 1970s and only launched its electric-vehicle division, Electra Meccanica, which removes the fuel-powered engine and swaps in electric powertrains, a few years ago. But the eRoadster is already a modern West Coast classic, offering drop-top driving in a classic Porsche body with cutting-edge, environmentally friendly tech. It’s unclear if Gates owns this red one or was just borrowing it, but we do know the man is a Porschephile, having famously pushed into U.S. legislation the show and display laws, just so he could drive his Porsche 959 stateside.
Origin: Bill Gates drives Vancouver-made electric Porsche 356 replica to Dairy Queen
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