This doesn't have a thing to do with national security. But it's a fun read...
From the outside, it looks like another '70s muscle car. On the inside, it's a gearhead fantasy come true.
Every chunk of this 1972 Ford Torino's innards has been swapped for fresh parts. An extra gas tank has been fused onto its body. Controllers for laser jammers, radar detectors, GPS sensors and video cameras now occupy areas once reserved for 8-track players and beige-tinted shades.
The vehicle has been hauled 2,700 miles on a tractor-trailer, from Gibsonville, North Carolina, to San Francisco. And on Wednesday, it'll begin a five-day, helter-skelter dash to reach Miami before hundreds of other cars cross a transcontinental finish line.
The Torino is taking part in the Gumball 3000 rally, a rolling party and road race that brings together millionaire dilettantes, minor luminaries, speed freaks, celebrity-seekers and former centerfolds. Not to mention overgrown kids with a fetish for wheels, like 37-year-old Kevin Mikelonis, who's spent $20,000 to customize his '72 Ford hot rod.
Go to my Wired News story for more on the Gumball 3000.
