Fastest Shed
{{Short description|Motorised shed}}
Fastest Shed is a motorised shed designed and built by Kevin Nicks of Great Rollright, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The vehicle has been used to break the world land speed record for sheds three times since it was built in 2015. The most recent record was a speed of {{convert|114.7|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} set on 23 September 2018 at Pendine Sands in Wales.
Design and manufacture
Kevin Nicks, a mechanic and gardener from Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom came up with the idea of building the unusual vehicle in 2015, as a way of making use of a broken-down Volkswagen Passat he had in his garden. His original focus was to use the Shed for advertising - believing that major organisations would be interested in using a car covered in wood as a replacement for an online marketing strategy. Nicks took twelve months to build the steel frame and wooden shiplap bodywork, install the engine and to make the vehicle roadworthy. The total expenditure for the vehicle was about £50,000. After damaging the engine whilst running Fastest Shed at various speed trials, during which time he set the shed world speed record at {{convert|80|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, Nicks spent another two years and £80,000 fitting Fastest Shed with a new suspension system and a more powerful Audi RS4 engine. In May 2018, Nicks broke his own record, achieving a speed of {{convert|101.046|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.
Trials and events
In mid 2017, Nicks drove Fastest Shed from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise funds for a hospice charity. Nicks broke this trip at Elvington airfield to attempt a {{convert|100|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} run, but the vehicle only achieved a maximum of {{convert|96|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} on this occasion. A few days after arriving in John O'Groats, Nicks embarked on the North Coast 500 route around the coast of Scotland, which he completed in 12 hours.
World records
On 16 September 2017, Nicks set his first shed world speed record. He broke the previous record of {{convert|94|km/h|mph|order=flip|abbr=on}} held by Edd China, by achieving a speed of {{convert|129.831|km/h|mph|order=flip|abbr=on}} at Elvington airfield, Yorkshire.
On 12 May 2018, Fastest Shed broke its first record on Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a recorded speed of {{convert|101.046|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.
Fastest Shed broke the record for the third time, surpassing its previous record by a narrow margin, recording a speed of {{convert|101.581|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, again on Pendine Sands, at the Straightliners "Top Speed" event on 23 September 2018.
Technical details
Fastest Shed's original build was based on a Volkswagen Passat 4Motion, including its {{convert|190|bhp|abbr=on}} engine. Later, the engine power was increased to {{convert|265|bhp|abbr=on}} by fitting it with a nitrous oxide injection kit.
For the September 2018 record attempt, the vehicle was fitted with a {{convert|400|bhp|abbr=on}} Audi RS4 (B5) engine. In an interview with Car Throttle, which aired on YouTube, Nicks has confirmed he changed the engine, replacing the existing B5 generation engine with an engine used in the B7 generation RS4, producing {{convert|455|bhp|abbr=on}}. It is also fitted with hydraulic suspension.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3iC9CDlaV8|title=Can You Daily Drive A 455bhp V8 Shed?|publisher=YouTube|author=Car Throttle|accessdate=14 July 2019|date=12 July 2019}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
|last=Crosse
|first=Jesse
|title=The world's fastest shed breaks speed record
|url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/worlds-fastest-shed-breaks-speed-record
|website=Autocar
|accessdate=21 December 2018
|date=1 January 2018
}}
|title=Motorised shed hits 100mph to break speed record at Pendine Sands
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-44054814
|website=BBC News
|accessdate=21 December 2018
|date=12 May 2018
}}
|title=Fastest garden shed
|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-garden-shed
|website=Guinness World Records
|accessdate=21 December 2018
|date=16 September 2017
}}
|title=Fastest shed beats its own land speed record for the second time in two years
|url=https://www.itv.com/news/2018-09-24/fastest-shed-beats-own-speed-record/
|website=ITV News
|accessdate=24 September 2018
|date=12 May 2018
}}
|agency=Press Association
|title=Fastest shed beats own speed record
|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/national/16900203.fastest-shed-beats-speed-record/
|website=Gazette News
|accessdate=21 December 2018
|date=24 September 2018
}}
}}