A Michigan man is busting out his “Big Banana” car this weekend to give out rides near Orlando, according to his Facebook page.
The man in question — Steve Braithwaite — announced on social media that he’ll be giving out rides this weekend at the following Planet Smoothie locations before heading out on Monday:
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Saturday, Jan. 4 — 415 N. Orlando Ave. in Winter Park
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Sunday, Jan. 5 — 7 Alafaya Woods Blvd. in Oviedo
The story behind Braithwaite’s wild-looking ride is a strange enough tale altogether.
“After riding across India on a motorcycle one time, which was amazing, my goal has been to do what’s called an ‘RTW,’ and that’s the Holy Grail for travelers,” he explained. “It means ‘Round The World.’”
But Braithwaite had a difficult time brainstorming the best vehicle for the task, so he instead pondered what kind of vehicle would be the most “ridiculous to use to drive around the world.”
The end result was obvious: he needed a banana.
As such, Braithwaite told News 6 that he and some friends set out to modify a 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck into his signature “Velos-a-nana.”
To do so, he stripped all the sheet metal to use the chassis, then used banana slices from the grocery store to figure out the dimensions of the skeleton.
“I then covered the entire thing with chicken wire — and that’s all still in there, the chicken wire and the rebar skeleton — sprayed it with urethane foam (like you insulate houses with), sculpted that into a nice banana shape, fiber-glassed over the top, and then spent forever sanding, sanding and sanding,” Braithwaite said.
Florida’s not the first destination for this oddball car, though.
According to Braithwaite, he’s towed around famous figures like Howie Mandel and Simon Cowell.
“One of them saw the car driving around Hollywood and asked if they could use it on their TV show,” he explained. “Which is cool. It has nothing to do with their TV show whatsoever, but they filmed it, and it was broadcast.”
The release on Facebook shows that Braithwaite will be out this weekend from 11 a.m. until around 5:45 p.m.
All that Braithwaite asks is that prospective riders pay whatever works for them, bring a car seat if needed, and wear “bright yellow socks so that your feet look like bananas.”
“IF CHILLY BRING A JACKET,” the release adds. “Like your mom always tells you, but you never listen. This time, listen.”
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