When it comes to road cars, Europe's Northern people are as clean as a whistle. They buy more EVs than pretty much anybody else in Europe, which is just as well considering the sort of motorsport they indulge in, the high-octane type.
Just take Formula Offroad, for example. People turn up to remote locations in Iceland with bespoke or Jeep-based monster vehicles, powered by Chevy or Chrysler V8s with forced induction and nitrous. Equipped with knobby tires, they take on near-vertical rock faces or try to ride across water like a skipping stone. Sounds simple… but it isn't.
One wrong move and your motor is in the drink, not to mention these brave drivers risk potentially deadly fires and overturning.
Extreme Formula Offroad racer Gudbjorn Grimsson has just pulled an amazing feat that would make even Jesus jealous, driving his 1600 horsepower buggy over 1,001 feet (305.1 meters) of lake water deep enough to swallow the whole car.
The official speed clocked was 87 km/h, but what's really amazing is that at the end of his run he looks like he could have traveled a little further. It take a lot of power to keep the speed up without which the hydroplaning effect wouldn't work. As the wheels spin like mad under nitrous-infused V8 power, the tread on the tires pushes water back like the paddles of an old steam boat… but much cooler.
"I'm so happy, I'm not able to explain it," said driver Gudbjorn Grimsson after his record-breaking attempt.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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