Here's one for seniors living life in the fast lane. Through around six months of tinkering, a pair of English mechanics has turned a humble old mobility scooter into a high-octane, rubber-burning speed machine. The souped-up four-wheeler was put to the test at a racetrack in the Isle of Man and claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest mobility scooter ever built with a speed of 107.6 mph (173.16 km/h).
David Anderson and Mathew Hine were inspired to build their high-powered vehicle after catching wind of inventor Colin Furze's 72 mph (116 (km/h) scooter from a few years back. But the actual speed they would need to beat for their ride to be recognized as the world's fastest was 133 km/h (83 mph), set by Denmark's Klaus Nissen Petersen in 2012.
According to Guinness World Record rules, to qualify the vehicle has to be based on a commercially available mobility aid and, from the outside, must look like a traditional motorscooter. So Anderson took a racing go-kart chassis, and re-designed it to fit the dimensions of a Days Strider mobility scooter. He then equipped it with the engine from a Suzuki 600 cc Bandit and replaced the 8-mph (13-km/h)-rated tires with racing wheels and tires from the go-kart.
Then over a quarter of a mile (400 m) at the Jurby Motodrome in Isle of Man, Anderson steered the scooter into the record books averaging a blistering 107.6 mph (173.16 km/h). But don't go trading in grandpa's ride just yet. In its current state the scooter is not street legal due to the absence of any front brakes.
You can see it in action in the video below.
Source: Guinness World Record
