Rally Fighter: $100,000 Custom Car tops 135 mph

By _samanthagrillo @Samantha Grillo

RUSSELL White has spent over $100,000 to create a custom car that can easily leap over sand dunes in the desert

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Videographer / Director: Ruaridh Connellan

Producer: Samantha Grillo

Editor: Joshua Douglas

Russell White has spent more than $100,000 to create a custom car.

The car, called a Rally Fighter, can also reach speeds up to 135 miles per hour.

Although made for sand dunes, the car is street legal, and gets plenty of attention on the road.

A Rally Fighter is a car that is manufactured by Local Motors but customized and built by the customer.

Russell, 41, said: “The car was built to drive very fast, that’s where it’s happy, that’s where it wants to be - you just have to be willing to be there with it.

The engine is from a Corvette and the Camaro SS and it has a 430 horsepower GM crank motor.

“It can be very dangerous at times, but for me that’s the exciting part.

“I like going down the roads where I don’t know what’s around the corner or on the other side of the hill - it just heightens the sensation of not knowing.”

Russell, from Texas, USA, built the car in the factory where they are made in Chandler, Arizona.

Russell completed the car in 30 days - starting with just a bare frame.

Russel said: “Most of the parts are collected together and prepared by Local Motors - I went to the factory and got in there with my hands.

“We started with the bare frame, and built the car to completion and drove it home 30 days later.

“The engine is from a Corvette and the Camaro SS - it’s got a 430 horsepower GM crank motor and 20 inches of travel suspension that allows for driving really fast in the desert.

Eat my dust! The car was build to leap over sand dunes in the desert.

“It has 420 foot pounds of torque, and passes all state emissions, comes with everything you need to install, run and get it on the road.

“The steering wheel is a Momo wheel, and the column is out of an F150.”

The car is completely street legal, and turns heads wherever Russell drives it.

He said: “I get an insane amount of attention when I’m out driving, sometimes it’s a little overwhelming - I’m still getting it after a year and a half driving it.

“Most people want to know what kind of car it is - they come up and start asking questions about it.”

While he is able to drive it in town, Russell’s favorite place to be is in the middle of the desert.

He said: “It’s a very capable car and you can only go as fast as the person in front of you, most of the time its 35 miles an hour.

"That’s why I like coming out in the desert and if I see a dirt road coming along the road, you’re going to see my car on the dirt road than you are on the street."