Cars as raw materials

May 28th, 2012
quito, tech
Julia and I visited a town in rural Ecuador this weekend. One thing that struck me was how many things were made out of cars. There was a small fair with some rides, and one of them was a ship that would swing back and forth. As we approached it, I kept hearing the sound of an engine revving up and then tires squealing. I thought I was hearing someone practicing peeling out, but it was actually the ship ride. Power came from a repurposed and rearranged car, where the operator sat in a driver's seat and shifted the transmission between forward and reverse depending on which direction the swing was currently moving. Then they'd give it some gas (two pedals: gas and clutch, not brake) and a drive wheel would spin up. That wheel pushed the bottom of the boat and accelerated it. The controls, along with the engine clearly from a car:

At the same fair was a "gusanito" (little worm), a ride where people sat in a series of trailers and would be pulled all around the town. The front segment was a Land Cruiser dressed up as a worm head:
We took a "tarabita" (aerial tram) across a valley to see some waterfalls. It hung from one strong cable while a car engine pulled it with a second loop of thinner cable:

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Linkpost for March

Effective Altruism

via Thing of Things March 2, 2026

The Newest Technology in Frozen

There are lots of different things in Frozen that are new-ish, but my dad and I were wondering: what is the actual newest thing in Frozen? This led me to watch Frozen a lot while taking notes. Some of the things I found included: Elastic hair-ties A safety …

via Lily Wise's Blog Posts March 1, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

more     (via openring)