A MAN who transformed an old truck into a four-wheel drive banana now speeds along at 85mph - but he gets drenched when it rains.
Steve Braithwaite, who is originally from Oxfordshire but now lives in Michigan, US, started constructing the Big Banana Car in 2009.
He built the rolling fruit with a close group of friends over two and a half years working mostly on Sundays and the occasional weeknight.
The unique vehicle is built on the chassis of a 1993 Ford F-150 pick-up truck.
At 22ft 10.5in (6.97m) in length and 10ft 2in (3.09m) in height, Steve's creation holds a Guinness World Record for the 'longest custom banana car'.
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Under the almost two tonne banana's bonnet is a 302ci Ford V8 with a top speed of 85mph (136.79km/h).
The engine gets about 15 miles per US gallon (18.01 miles per UK gallon).
Steve started creating the Big Banana Car in Bowling Green, Ohio, continued in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and completed it in Coopersburg.
It's a convertible that doesn't convert, which makes it an 'unconvertible'. When it rains, I get wet.
Steve Braithwaite
He used reinforced steel bars, chicken wire and polyurethane foam.
These were sculpted, covered in fibreglass and painted to produce a fruit-like appearance.
The banana car holds three passengers seated in a line behind the driver and cost around $25,000 (approximately £19,000).
"I just wanted to do the most ridiculous thing I could think of and driving a banana around seemed to be the most ridiculous thing," the constructor told Forbes.
Steve continued: "It's a convertible that doesn't convert, which makes it an 'unconvertible'. When it rains, I get wet.
"If I'm loaded up with luggage, I get somewhere between 13-15 miles per gallon.
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"By today's standards, that's terrible, but for a banana, it's amazing."
He has driven the Big Banana Car coast to coast and north to south from Michigan to Miami (Florida), Houston (Texas) and Providence (Rhode Island).
