Steve Braithwaite turned his 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck into a 23-foot banana car. It has four seats and people can sit behind one another. However, the fruity modification meant he kept getting pulled over by the police, not because he violated rules, but because officers were intrigued by the vehicle.Braithwaite, an Oxford native from the UK, has been living in Michigan for nearly forty years. The thought of converting his pickup into a banana came to him over 15 years ago when he waited for his turn at a gas station, KBZK reported. Spotting a banana near the register, Braithwaite began to imagine the fruit moving on the road, and that made him laugh."I pictured it down the road, driving down the road, and started laughing," Braithwaite recalled. "I thought, if it makes me laugh now, I'm going to build it."AdvertisementAdvertisementBraithwaite started building the fiberglass banana car in 2008 and completed the project three years later in 2011. He is now touring across the country, and plans to explore South America. He recently sold most of his possessions and put the rest into storage, then hit the road full-time. His ultimate goal is to drive to other countries.Image Courtesy: Big Banana Car on FacebookYou Come Across Cool Police Officers If You're in a Banana CarTo fund his journey, he sells T-shirts, coffee mugs, and children's books featuring the banana car. On his travels, though, he attracts attention not only from people but also from police officers.One incident occurred in Montana when an officer pulled him over because two boxes partially covered his license plate, which reads "Split." Fortunately for Braithwaite, they let him off without a ticket and even featured him on the department's Facebook page. The Montana Highway Patrol posted:AdvertisementAdvertisement"We've stopped speeders, distracted drivers, and even a few unusual vehicles… but this one definitely stands out."The Big Banana Car was stopped cruising near Billings today. While it may be apPEALing, traffic laws still apply to fruit."Safe travels, Montana."Speaking about the Montana traffic stop, Braithwaite said:"I see the officer go any other way, and he looped around, and he actually had a legitimate reason for pulling me over. It was a fair complaint, but we had a good chat."What keeps Braithwaite going is the reactions he gets from strangers, something that means a lot to him. He said:AdvertisementAdvertisement"Driving around in a banana and having all these people, all these smiles and waves, affects me. It actually does something fantastic."Braithwaite said that people have always come forward to help him whenever he needed assistance, a reality of long travel he readily acknowledged. He said:"There's going to be issues, but the nice thing about the banana car is people come to my aid. I don't think we realize anymore how wonderful people really are."He added:"The world is seriously low on whimsy right now, and driving around in a banana, it just brings it out of people, and it's lovely. I think I meet people at their best, and so I couldn't ask for a better life. It's so much fun."Follow Braithwaite's journey on his website.Image Courtesy: Big Banana Car on Facebook