Taliban Unveil Afghanistan’s First Ever Supercar, the Mada 9

The Taliban-led Government of Afghanistan recently unveiled the country’s first-ever indigenously built supercar, named Mada 9.

On the list of things you were expecting from the Taliban, unveiling a supercar prototype probably ranked pretty low, but here we are. Reportedly developed by a team of at least 30 engineers from a company called ENTOP and Kabul’s Afghanistan Technical Vocational Institute (ATVI) over a period of 5 years, the Mada 9 definitely has the looks of a supercar, but is currently powered by a modified 2000 Toyota Corolla engine. It is apparently capable of moving at “higher speeds”, but the end goal is to fit it with a more powerful electrical engine.

Read More »

World’s Largest Electric Truck Needs Almost No Recharging

The world’s biggest electric vehicle is a giant dump truck that relies almost exclusively on energy produced by its own breaking system, requiring only minimal recharging.

Called the ‘eDumper’, the world’s largest electric vehicle is actually a converted Komatsu 605-7 HD dump truck the diesel engine of which was replaced with an electric motor and a giant battery. It was a joint venture between Swiss company E-Mining, Empa, the University of Bern and NTB Interstaatlicke Hochschule fur Technik Buchs. Creating the largest and most powerful electric vehicle in the world took approximately 18 months and was unveiled in 2018 when it performed its “maiden voyage” at a quarry of Vigier Ciment in the Swiss Canton of Berne.

Read More »

Meet THOR 24, Probably the Craziest Truck Ever Built

THOR 24 is a unique big rig often referred to as “the most powerful big rig ever built” because of its horsepower rating (3,974 horsepower) reached through a 24-cylinder engine with 12 superchargers.

Can you imagine the god of thunder in truck form? Me neither, but builder Mike Harrah definitely could and the result is nothing short of insane. The 44-foot-long big rig is powered by two 852 cubic-inch V12 diesel engines and 12 superchargers and requires four drag parachutes to deploy out of the rear bumper to stop when it reaches its peak speed of 130 mph (209 km/h). It apparently took Harrah seven years and thousands of hours to build and cost over $7 million.

Read More »

The World’s Fastest Tractor Is Faster Than Some Sports Cars

The JCB Fastrac Two is a stripped-down and performance-enhanced JCB Fastrac tractor capable of reaching speeds of up to 247 km per hour (153.8 mph).

If you’ve ever driven behind a tractor, you probably already know that they are many things, but they certainly aren’t fast. Tractors are built for power, not speed, but what if someone wanted to make a tractor go really fast? Well, a few years ago, a team at English tractor manufacturer JCB set out to do just that and managed to set a new Guinness record for the world’s fastest tractor with a modified version of the company’s Fastrac tractor. Over two two-kilometer runs, it averaged a speed of 135 mph (217.6 km/h) and a peak speed of 153.771 mph (247 km/h).

Read More »

Guy Faces Jail Time for Building His Own Ferrari F430 Out of a Toyota

A 26-year-old man was recently charged with forgery and breach of trademarks after it was discovered that his red Ferrari F430 was actually a modified Toyota MR Coupé.

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza made the unusual seizure during a routine check in the town of Asti, Italy. Although the red Ferrari featured all the iconic elements of the F430, from the prancing horse logo on the bonnet and steering wheel, to the rims, brake calipers and iconic headlights, something about the vehicle seemed wrong. It’s unclear whether the motorist had the necessary documents to prove that his car was a genuine Ferrari F430 or not, but the police officers called a team of experts just to be sure. They confirmed that the car was actually a modified Toyota MR Coupé.

Read More »

Man Drives in Reverse Over 16 Kilometers in Under 30 Minutes, Sets World Record

A 35-year-old man from India’s Tamil Nadu state recently set a new world record for the longest distance driven in reverse in under 30 minutes – 16 kilometers and 140 meters.

During an event that took place last week at Edappadi Bypass in Tamil Nadu, Chandramouli, a passionate motorist from Salem district, managed to set a new world record by driving over 16 kilometers in reverse gear in under 30 minutes. The man, whose passion for driving cars goes back to when he was only 10 years old, practiced hard for the task, knowing that he had to beat the previous record set by 22-year-old Tesson Thomas from Pathanamthitta of Kerala, who had covered 14.2 km driving in reverse for 30 minutes. Chandramouli managed to blow that record out of the water, backing up for 16 kilometers and 140 meters in just 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

Read More »

You Can Now Buy Your Own Electric Fire Truck for Just $2,600

At only $2,600, the Robeta electric fire truck may just be the world’s most affordable fire truck. Not to mention you can buy it on Alibaba!

Fully decked-out fire trucks usually cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but municipalities, businesses, or even individuals looking to protect themselves against fire on the cheap now have a truly affordable and environment-friendly option. The Robeta fire truck is a one-seat full-electric vehicle with a range of 31-37 miles (50 – 60 kilometers) and a decent fire-fighting arsenal. It’s certainly not the most impressive fire truck ever made, but for $2,600, you have to keep your expectations in check.

Read More »

Drunk Man Tramples Four Luxury Cars, Now Owes $150,000 in Repairs

A 24-year-old man from Chengdu, China has to pay at least $150,000 in repair costs after trampling and vandalizing four luxury vehicles in a hotel parking lot while drunk.

The incident occurred on the evening of May 21, when a clearly inebriated man was filmed kicking and trampling on a number of luxury vehicles despite his girlfriend’s best efforts to stop him. It’s unclear what prompted this sort of reaction from the perpetrator, referred to only as Gao by Chinese media, but considering that he looks very drunk, a logical explanation may not even exist. The damaged cars include a Lamborghini and two Rolls Royces, and the repair costs have been estimated at over 1 million yuan ($150,000).

Read More »

World’s Largest Hummer Makes the Regular One Look Like a Toy Car

As the name suggests, the Hummer H1 X3 is three times the size of a standard Hummer H1, making it the largest Hummer in the world, by far.

The Hummer H1 is one of the largest street-legal SUVs ever made, but it literally looks like a toy car next to the behemoth that is the Hummer H1 X3. Measuring 6.6 meters high, 14 meters long, and 6 meters wide (21.6 x 46 x 19.6 feet), this metal monster is the largest Hummer in existence, at least according to its owner, Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, aka the Rainbow Sheikh, one of the most eccentric car owners in the world.

Read More »

Introducing the Bus-Train, the World’s First Dual-Mode Vehicle

Japan recently unveiled the world’s first Dual-Mode Vehicle (DMV), a contraption that runs both on roads, like a bus, and on rails, like a train.

The unique bus-train hybrid was unveiled last month, in the town of Kaiyo, Japan’s Tokushima Prefecture. The mini-bus-like contraption didn’t win anyone over with its looks, but it definitely made an impression in terms of practicality. It runs with normal rubber tires on the road, but when it needs to switch to train mode, a pair of metal wheels drop down from the vehicle’s underbelly. The front tires are lifted off of the track, while the rear wheels stay down to propel the vehicle. Switching between road and train modes takes only about 15 seconds.

Read More »

The Pink Panthers – A Unique Piece of British Military History

Pink hardly seems like an appropriate color for combat military vehicles, but there was a time when the British military had a fleet of pink Land Rovers that affectionately became known as the “Pink Panthers”.

Khaki and beige are the two most common colors used on military vehicles, but when it comes to desert camouflage, there was a time when pink was the best choice. ‘Desert pink’ as it was once referred to, was first used in the Africa campaign of World War 2, but British researchers later confirmed that it was the most suitable camouflage color for the desert, so a fleet of pink Series 2A Land Rover jeeps was also part of the British SAS from 1968 until 1984. They were known as the Pink Panthers, or Pinkies.

Read More »

Bartek Ostalowski – The World’s Only Armless Professional Sports Driver

Despite losing both arms in a tragic accident, a motorsports enthusiast has managed to pursue his passion by using his feet to drive cars and even competing against able-bodied drivers in drifting competitions.

Bartek Ostalowski lost both his arms in a motorcycle accident in 2006, but that wasn’t enough to kill his dream of one day becoming a professional racecar driver. Finding himself armless at just 20-years-old and faced with the daunting task of learning to drive a car on a race circuit must have been quite the shock for Bartek, but he mustered the courage and the drive to push on, and in three years time he became a master of maneuvering a racecar with his feet. Today, Bartek Ostalowski is the world’s only professional sport driver who drives using his feet.

Read More »

This Carpet-Covered Lada Is the Most Soviet-Era Car Ever Made

There are many Soviet-era remnants scattered all over the Russian Federation, but few as blatant as this old Zighuli car covered in Persian-style rugs that recently went viral on social media.

The Zhiguli VAZ was a popular car model produced in Soviet Russia and exported all over the world. Outside of the Soviet Union, it was sold under the LADA brand, so it might look familiar even if you’re not from Russia. It was always considered a reliable vehicle that could take some punishment and still run, but overall it was one of the many symbols associated with the Soviet Union. Still, no model was ever as Soviet-ized as “Carpets”, a unique VAZ 27011 that captures viewers’ imagination with its unusual exterior – a layer of old Persian-style rugs that were once all the rage in communist countries.

Read More »

Student Invents Motorcycle That Runs on Swamp Gas

Gijs Schalkx, a Dutch inventor and engineering student, modified his motorcycle to run on methane harvested from roadside bogs and ponds.

Aptly named Sloot Motor (sloot means ‘ditch’ in Dutch), Gijs Schalkx’s ingenious vehicle features a modified Honda GX160 motorcycle engine, with a hole into the airbox, through which it receives the methane. The bright inventor than hooks a balloon filled with methane to the hole, which acts as the fuel tank. The engine still starts with gasoline, but once it starts, it uses the methane to keep going. But what truly makes Gijs’ project special is the fact that he manually harvests the methane himself from roadside swamps and ponds, a labor that takes approximately eight hours. The methane only lasts 12 miles at a top speed of 27mph.

Read More »

This 48 Cylinder Motorcycle Is One of the Craziest Things You’ll Ever See

Known as the Whitelock Tinker Toy, this insane 48-cylinder motorcycle holds the record for the functional vehicle with the most number of cylinders.

English motorcycle enthusiast Simon Whitelock is the “madman” responsible for the existence of this outrageous contraption. It is based on the Kawasaki 250 S1, a relatively small bike equipped with a 3-cylinder 250 cc engine capable of putting out 31 hp, but you couldn’t really tell by looking at it. That’s because this souped-up Kawasaki features six rows of eight original S1 cylinders, stripped off of 16 S1 motorcycle engines. All cylinders are connected to a common transmission, borrowed from a BMW motorcycle, and require more than the regular electric starter motor to start…

Read More »