Longtime Jalopnik readers may remember Juha Sipilä. He is a former telecom executive, politician, and builder of a badass El Camino that runs on wood gas. Also, as of last night, he is the prime minister-elect of Finland.
This El Camino runs on burning wood This El Camino runs on burning wood This El Camino runs on burning wood
Ridiculously, in America, the only acceptable vehicles for a politician are either U.S.-built…Read more Read more
Dreams do come true.
 
Sipilä is the leader of Finland’s Centre Party, which cruised to victory in Sunday night’s elections like a sweet, sweet wood-burning El Camino barreling down Route 66 spreading democracy and awesomeness in its wake.
 
I could use this space to talk about how Sipilä seeks to return Finland to economic prosperity after years of being mired in a recession, but that’s not really what we all care about. Instead, we care that Sipilä is a car enthusiast who specializes in wood gas conversions.
 
A few years back, he built a wood gas-powered El Camino called El Kamina — “The Stove” in Finnish — to show how biofuels can be done. The kickass muscle truck can run for up to 125 miles on wood gas power all the way up to a top speed of 87 mph.
El Camino-Driving, Jalopnik-Endorsed Badass Elected Leader Of Finland2
 
This is multiple kinds of awesome.
JayHova
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4
There is a lot of wood in Finland.
mtdrift
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5
Almost looks like something from a dystopian future where petroleum reserves have mostly dried up, leaving only just enough for automotive paints.
ranwhenparked
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And now, its builder is the Prime Minister of Finland. That’s awesome.
I wonder if he’s up for some kind of Chevy burnout contest with Joe Biden?