A rocket-powered log car built in British Columbia raised $436,000 for charity last week after being sold three times at the same auction.
According to the CBC, the car, known as the Cedar Rocket, is notable for having been carved out of a single huge log of western red cedar -- because apparently a car built from multiple logs wouldn't be anywhere near as special. British Columbia-based log home builder Pioneer Log Homes conceived of the car as a way to promote the company's work at car shows.
Pioneer Log Homes' website says the Cedar Rocket holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest log car, though conflicting reports suggest the car achieved either 74 or 90 km/h thanks to a pair of 20-hp turbines and a 35-hp electric motor. The car was designed to hit 225 km/h, but that performance metric has never been tested.
Its appearance at a Barrett Jackson auction in Arizona last week was part of the plan: Pioneer's founders built the car with the intent of raising funds for war veterans charities, including the Royal Canadian Legion.
And in that regard, it was successful: Upon its first pass across the auction block, someone bought the car for US$175,000 and then immediately put it back up for sale, when a second buyer made a successful bid for US$100,000. Then it happened again, and the car sold for another US$75,000.
According to Pioneer Log Homes founder Bryan Reid Sr. (who also starts on a reality TV show called Timber Kings), the last buyer was a guy from a car museum in Virginia who plans to display the log car next to the Batmobile.
