As the saying goes, you can take the dad out of Southern Alabama, &c. &c.
Illinois dad Paul Smith has four sons and some steps, and between that, the two jobs, and all the drag racing he does in his homebrewed, supercharged Dodge Caravan minivan, well, let's just say he keeps pretty busy.
But not too busy to document his turbo minivan project ["the fasted minivan in the USA!"], his mods, and the money he's put into it. At least as of the Summer of 2001, when he last updated the site. [Somewheres around $13,000, including $800 to buy the damn thing in the first place.]
Meanwhile, the kids aren't waitin' to do their learnin' in some college; they get to see now, on alternate weekends, just how bad ass it can be to kick a Z28's ass off the line. And really, isn't that what it's all about?
Turbovan.net [via Jalopnik]
Whoa.
Glad Dad opted for the "woody" package. Flames would have killed the irony of it all.
Now, could someone please call child protective services...
There is a small community of Volvo rear wheel drive owners (the classic 240, and the 740 and 940 of decades past) who drop Ford 5.0 V8 engines in the cars. I've seen an 80s 240 wagon kick civic ass at the racetrack - complete with dual exhaust, child seat in the rear, and a little yellow diamond suctioned to the back window that read "5.0 on Board." I'll take that over one of those Merc wagons any time!
Don't mean to drag this from the dark ages, but just an FYI, but Paul hasn't updated his site in several years becuase has was involved in a fatal accident shortly after his last runs listed. I don't recall the details, but I think someone made an illegal pass into him headfirst.
Awesome site, and van, though!
[oh. well, I guess that's a good excuse for not updating his site, while also being a supremely sad deal for him and his family, of course. Sorry to hear that. -ed.]