Indian Guy Has Been Driving His Fiat Backwards For 16 Years

Back in 2013, the old Fiat Padmini of Indian taxi driver Harpreet Dev broke in reverse. At that time, he did not have enough money to fix it. He said, “I was outside the city, I had no money, so I thought of driving the car backwards until Bhatinda. Then I drove backward and later on I gained confidence.”

So that’s how he realized he was interested in driving backwards. The next morning, he decided to paint the side of his car with the words “Back Gear Champion.” His Fiat’s gearbox also got a redesign with four rever gears and one forward.

Years of practice allow Harpreet to drive backwards comfortably at a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour. On top of the car, he attached an ambulance siren to warn other road users about his peculiar driving. He proudly said, “I take all the care I can to protect the other drivers on the road.”

He added, “I always wanted to do something different, something unique. In simpler terms, I reversed the complete gear mechanism of the car so that I get maximum speeds while driving backwards.”

To promote peace between India and Pakistan, in 2005, Harpreet drove backwards from India’s Rajasthan to Pakistan’s Lahore.

However, he couldn’t write his name in the Guinness Book of World Records as there was a man from the UK called John Smith had done this before him.

If Harpreet wanted to break Smith’s record, he would need to submit non-stop video footage of his bizarre driving. However, he couldn’t do so.

His reverse driving brought him not only fame but also some negative effects. Over 10 year of driving backward, he now has severe neck and back problems. He admitted, “I do have pains in the neck – frequent pains in the neck – and I have had severe vomiting in the past. I have got a severe backbone problem from driving so fast in reverse because my whole body gets contorted.”