2000 - Volume #24, Issue #6, Page #36

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Double-Fronted, Two-Way Car

Double-Fronted, Two-Way Car FARM HOME Cars 24-6-36 A lot of people who see my double-fronted, two-way car aren't sure just what they're seeing, and that's just the way I want it. I built it out of a pair of Plymouth Tourismo cars, one a 1979 model and the other a 1983. At first I equipped the car with two engines and two front wheel drives so that it could be driven from either end. However, state examiners were reluctant to license my car because other drivers might mistakenly think it was coming at them. For example, a driver could pass another vehicle and then get back into the right hand lane and find himself staring at what looks like a car coming his way. One of the cars had a stick shift transmission and the other an automatic transmission. I operated the car from both ends for a while until the automatic transmission went bad. At that point I decided to just go with the stick shift transmission and drive the car only one way. I took out one of the engines, added some weights, and made that space into a trunk. I also made one end of the car look like it was the rear. I did this by making a dummy spare wheel and mounting it on the grille. Then I found some large red tail lights and mounted them over what had been the headlights. I like to take the car to parades in local towns. One trick I have is to lock the rear steering wheels in a slight turn. Then, as I drive down the street in a parade, the rear of the car is way off track compared with the front. Parade goers really get a kick out of this. (Melvin Page, 518 Pine St., Taylorville, Ill. 62568 ph 217 854-4188)