NEW YORK: It’s not a toy car, but the world’s most expensive dune buggy, the Sidewinder, with a price tag of price tag, costing £157,000 (€199,000 or $246,289) and top speed of 93 mph (150 kph).
Powered by a 630 brake horsepower engine, the sleek, gun-metal grey buggy goes from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. It is made by a Swedish company called Gray Designs, which designed it with robust suspension and a high-tech chassis to keep passengers comfortable while they are speeding down a steep Saharan dune.
‘The Sidewinder is designed to enjoy the hobby of sand dune racing in luxury and style,’ a spokesperson for Gray Designs said. ‘Whether it’s in the Middle East or the US, the Sidewinder is the perfect vehicle to take you from dune to dune in comfort.’ The interior of the car looks like that of a sports saloon and boasts an array of OLED screens to show the driver how fast they are going, as well as entertainment options. The buggy can be ‘fine-tuned’ to suit individual customers’ needs, using an Android-based platform, the company said.
The Sidewinder is powered by an LSX Bowtie big block engine and supported by 3.0 King bypass shock absorbers. For people without a spare £157,000 to blow on a buggy, Google has mapped a portion desert, enabling people to look across a vast expanse of desert dunes from the comfort of their sofas.
Two months ago, Google strapped its Trekker camera to the back of a camel so sandy scenes could be added to Street View. Viewers can see glimmers of green in the distance of the Liwa Desert in the United Arab Emirates, which are often oases, but could also be a mirage. Using the virtual map though the desert, people can climb sand dunes reaching towering heights of between 16ft and 147ft (5 and 45 metres).
