A group of car enthusiasts in Australia recently drove a 1978 Toyota Landcruiser seven kilometres on the bottom of the ocean, setting a new world record for the longest underwater drive.
On the morning of July 29th, a bright orange Toyota LandCruiser drove into the northern Australian Sea. The 1978 “rust bucket” had been bought online by a group of friends for around $5,000 and converted into an insulated electric vehicle able to drive underwater, at depths of several meters.
Dubbed the “Mud Crab”, the old short-wheelbase four-wheel drive buggy was meant to cover a distance of 4.3 miles (7km), between Mandorah Beach and Darwin Harbour, and thus set a new world record for the longest distance covered by a car driven underwater.
The orange LandCruiser entered the Australian Sea at 9 in the morning, and the team expected to reach Darwin Harbour by 5 in the afternoon, but they underestimated the difficulty of driving on the sometimes sandy, sometimes muddy ocean floor. The car got stuck about a dozen times during the 4.3-mile drive and needed assistance to continue its journey.
[Source: ODDITY CENTRAL]