Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Man hopes for dinner table speed record

A car fanatic and inventor hopes to have set a world speed record for the fastest piece of furniture. Perry Watkins, 47, from Wingrave near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, carried out two runs on a 500m track at Santa Pod in Northamptonshire on Sunday.



The Queen Anne table laid out for a silver service dinner achieved an average speed of 113.8mph, although it hit 130mph at one point. Guinness must ratify the achievement to oust a 92mph record by a sofa in 2007. Mr Watkins called the table, which was built in his garage at home in just over a year, Fast Food.

A 1994 Reliant Scimitar Sabre is the base of the table but it was modified with a nitrous oxide kit. Mr Watkins said: "It was actually worse than I thought it would be. It felt like 200mph. The tablecloth was flapping away and I was trying to spot the finish line. It was quite difficult."



The dinner table is one of a number of novelty cars Mr Watkins has built. He previously held the world record for the world's lowest car and he also built the smallest ever car with a 150cc engine from a Postman Pat toy delivery van.

You can see more of Fast Food in action here.

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