1981 Mercedes-Benz Powered by French Fries Grease

Giancarlo Perlas August 1, 2014

Jame McKinnon shows the French fries grease he uses to power up his 1981 Mercedes-Benz.

If it’s fuel-efficiency that you are looking for, no current-generation luxury car could possibly beat James McKinnon’s 1981 Mercedes-Benz. The beat-up and no-longer-luxurious Mercedes of McKinnon, the owner of Toronto-based restaurant called Dangerous Dan’s, can go from his location all the way to Port Dover, Ontario for only 30 cents. It may sound ridiculous, but it is true.

The 1981 Mercedes-Benz, probably a W123 Sedan 300D model based on the picture provided by Thestar.com, is powered up by a retrofitted engine that uses vegetable oil. McKinnon puts the same grease he used to cook up his fries to his car. As a result of this abuse, he was able to save a couple of thousand dollars on fuel.

There are some setbacks in using French fries grease in a car though. First, the owner admitted that reaching sixty miles per hour from zero takes like a minute. Second, the exhaust odor reveals the kind of food that used the cooking oil fueling the car. Due to this, the smell of his exhaust gives off the tang of fries all the way. He noted that the last person who drove the car sourced his grease from California, so its fumes had Mexican food written all over it.

Lastly, the 1981 grease-powered Mercedes has trouble warming up during winter. As a remedy, it still retains a separate diesel tank. During winters, the diesel tank pumps up fuel to the car’s engine until it heats up to 80 degrees. After that, McKinnon, flicks a switch that starts pumping the goopy and used up cooking oil.

McKinnon does not mind all these issues though. Well, we can’t complain about it either as long as the car gets the job done in ferrying its occupants in the most efficient way possible.