Below is a Q&A of the most common questions about the Big Banana Car.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Why did you build the Big Banana Car?
I was getting restless and decided I wanted to do something unusual when I happened to watch an episode of the British version of the automotive show Top Gear.
On this particular episode they had two crazy vehicles.
1. The worlds fastest garden shed.
2. A driveable couch.
That got me wondering "what can I build that's ridiculous?"
Everything I looked at for the next month made me ask myself "can I turn that into a car".
Then one day I was standing in line at a gas station in Orion Michigan and next to me was a bowl of fruit.
I had always thought of bananas as that boomerang shape which wouldn't work because you would not be able to see the road ahead but at the top of this pile of fruit was a banana that ran fairly straight and just curved at the back.
I picked it up and pictured where the wheels would go, the seats, the windshield and then I visualized it in my minds eye driving down the road and started laughing.
I was so engrossed in this that I didn't realise the line ahead of me had cleared and I was now standing in the middle of the gas station with people patiently waiting behind me.
They all must have thought "My word! Has he never seen a banana before?"
How long did the Big Banana Car take to build?
Working mostly on Sundays and occasional weeknights it took 2-1/2 years.
Until close to the end and then I was on it constantly for about 6 weeks.
How fast does the banana car go?
Well officer ...
I have had the Big Banana Car up to 85mph.
That was on the freeway coming into Houston where the speed limit was 80 so I was only doing 5 over.
And yet I was still the slowest on the road!
Have you ever been pulled over?
Yes.
All the time.
But it was never for a driving infraction (mostly) and it has always been great.
What do you do when it rains?
It's like a motorcycle in that I accept that I'm going to get wet. And I have gotten soaked!
However, so long as I'm moving the rain hits the windshield and mostly misses me. It's when I come to a red light that it's miserable so I keep an umbrella handy.
