A vehicle which faces both ways

UCOL automotive lecturer Gary Esler has been "dancing with a car" that has two engines, two steering wheels & and two left feet.
The car, an automotive Siamese twin joined at the hip, was created by UCOL Panel and Paint students in Palmerston North and will be on show at the Apprenticeships in the Wairarapa expo at Copthorne Resort Solway Park on Sunday.
The burnt-orange beast started life as two 1985 Ford Lasers, sliced in half by UCOL students and then carefully welded together again, Mr Esler said.
It now comprises two front ends, both with engines, independent steering wheels, gears, clutch and running gear but no rear end, he said.
It was originally intended as a space saver in the workshop, he said, that allowed students to work on two engines in one vehicle at the same time.
Instead it has become a UCOL Trades icon, on display for a time in the Atrium of the Palmerston North campus before being tuned, tweaked and tided by Masterton automotive students for this weekend and for a UCOL campus open day next month, he said.
"The car's not road legal but it is a whole lot of fun and looks very, very weird.
"Once you hit second gear and get the steering synchronised, it travels almost sideways in a straight line, like a crab.
"It's like dancing with a car and you could do a huge doughnut if you wanted."
Mr Esler said the car could be driven from either end "but obviously not from both ends at once or you'd be going nowhere".
Wairarapa Workforce Development co-ordinator John Bush said the apprenticeships expo starts at 12pm and runs until 4.30pm, where the car will be on display.
The event has been organised by the Wairarapa Workforce Development Trust and coincides with the 2007 Apprentice and Trainee Graduation ceremony, to be held on Sunday night at Copthorne Resort.
Mr Esler said there are now 24 students working out of the UCOL automotive workshop in Queen Street and seven are now in pre-apprenticeship employment with several other businesses keen to take on apprentices from the course as well.