Photo: ABC News/Nicole Curby
In a daring feat that reportedly broke not one but two world records, a team of divers has driven a 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser for 7 kilometers (4.34 miles) underwater across Darwin Harbour in Australia.
The vehicle involved in the stunt is a bright orange 40 series SWB Land Cruiser affectionately nicknamed "Mudcrab," that has been waterproofed and converted to an electric drivetrain. A team comprising 30 engineers, commercial divers, and motor-sport enthusiasts spent around six months restoring the Land Cruiser specifically for the world record-breaking attempt.
A legion of volunteers dedicated hundreds of hours of work to this ambitious project. Some helped write customized circuit boards, others contributed to converting the old diesel engine to electric, and others provided their diving skills.
On July 29, the squad took the waterproof electric vehicle to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia and drove it across the bottom of Darwin Harbour at a depth of 30 meters (98.4 feet), thus breaking the record for the longest and deepest underwater drive.
According to local reports, it took the team nearly 12 hours to drive the seven kilometers distance, which was about five hours longer than initially planned. The delay was caused by the fact that Mudcrab's tired got stuck in the mud, silt, and sand covering the sea floor several times on the way down. Inflatable buoys chained to the vehicle were used to lift it out of the mud every time it got bogged down. Moreover, the team had to lift the Land Cruiser over a gas pipeline that was standing in its way.
Underwater, the pressure was so high that the diver-drivers had to take turns behind the wheel of the car. They could only spend 15 minutes at a time underwater before returning to the surface.
The Mudcrab was taken on just one saltwater test drive before the big day, four days before the journey, but the team members were confident they would make it across the treacherous terrain. Which they did at around 9 PM on Saturday, with hundreds of spectators cheering the team on when the vehicle reached the shore.
In terms of modifications, the Toyota was fitted with an electric motor, controller, and batteries, which were waterproofed by encasing them in silicon oil. The classic Land Cruiser also received new tires. Weighing 150 kg (330 pounds) each, the tires were filled with water instead of air.
This historic drive on the sea floor of Darwin Harbour is not the first stunt of this kind. Actually, it took place exactly 40 years after a similar attempt. In 1983, a team of 70 divers tried to cross the same body of water behind the wheel of a Land Cruiser fitted with a 60-meter snorkel. That mission failed when the car ran into a rock ledge about 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) in and had to resurface before completing the challenge.
A legion of volunteers dedicated hundreds of hours of work to this ambitious project. Some helped write customized circuit boards, others contributed to converting the old diesel engine to electric, and others provided their diving skills.
On July 29, the squad took the waterproof electric vehicle to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia and drove it across the bottom of Darwin Harbour at a depth of 30 meters (98.4 feet), thus breaking the record for the longest and deepest underwater drive.
According to local reports, it took the team nearly 12 hours to drive the seven kilometers distance, which was about five hours longer than initially planned. The delay was caused by the fact that Mudcrab's tired got stuck in the mud, silt, and sand covering the sea floor several times on the way down. Inflatable buoys chained to the vehicle were used to lift it out of the mud every time it got bogged down. Moreover, the team had to lift the Land Cruiser over a gas pipeline that was standing in its way.
Underwater, the pressure was so high that the diver-drivers had to take turns behind the wheel of the car. They could only spend 15 minutes at a time underwater before returning to the surface.
The Mudcrab was taken on just one saltwater test drive before the big day, four days before the journey, but the team members were confident they would make it across the treacherous terrain. Which they did at around 9 PM on Saturday, with hundreds of spectators cheering the team on when the vehicle reached the shore.
In terms of modifications, the Toyota was fitted with an electric motor, controller, and batteries, which were waterproofed by encasing them in silicon oil. The classic Land Cruiser also received new tires. Weighing 150 kg (330 pounds) each, the tires were filled with water instead of air.
This historic drive on the sea floor of Darwin Harbour is not the first stunt of this kind. Actually, it took place exactly 40 years after a similar attempt. In 1983, a team of 70 divers tried to cross the same body of water behind the wheel of a Land Cruiser fitted with a 60-meter snorkel. That mission failed when the car ran into a rock ledge about 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) in and had to resurface before completing the challenge.
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