Fastest Shed is a motorised

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-storey (though some sheds may have two or more stories and or a loft) roofed structure, often used for storage, for hobby, hobbies, or as a workshop, and typically serving as outbuilding, such as in a bac ...

designed and built by Kevin Nicks of Great Rollright,

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...

, 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 set on 23 September 2018 at

Pendine Sands Pendine Sands () is a beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches west to east from Gilman Point to Laugharne Sands. The village of Pendine () is close to the western end of the beach. In the early 1900s t ...

in Wales.

Design and manufacture

Kevin Nicks, a

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

and

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

from

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, 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 The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of D-segment, large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar ...

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 Shiplap is a type of wooden board used commonly as exterior siding (construction), siding in the construction of residences, barns, sheds, and outbuildings. Exterior walls Shiplap is either rough-sawn or milled pine or similarly inexpensive woo ...

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 , Nicks spent another two years and £80,000 fitting Fastest Shed with a new suspension system and a more powerful

Audi RS4 The Audi RS 4 is the high-performance variant of the Audi A4 range produced by Audi Sport GmbH for AUDI AG, a division of the Volkswagen Group. It sits above the Audi S4 as the fastest, most sports-focused car based on the A4's "B" automobile pla ...

engine. In May 2018, Nicks broke his own record, achieving a speed of .

Trials and events

In mid 2017, Nicks drove Fastest Shed from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise funds for a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

charity. Nicks broke this trip at Elvington airfield to attempt a run, but the vehicle only achieved a maximum of on this occasion. A few days after arriving in John O'Groats, Nicks embarked on the

North Coast 500 The North Coast 500 is a scenic route around the north coast of Scotland, starting and ending at Inverness Castle. The route is also known as the NC500 and was launched in 2015, linking many features in the north Highlands of Scotland in one t ...

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 held by

Edd China Edward John China (born 9 May 1971) is an English television presenter, mechanic, motor specialist and inventor, best known as being presenter and mechanic on Discovery Channel's television show '' Wheeler Dealers''. He has also appeared on '' ...

, by achieving a speed of at Elvington airfield, Yorkshire. On 12 May 2018, Fastest Shed broke its first record on

, Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a recorded speed of . Fastest Shed broke the record for the third time, surpassing its previous record by a narrow margin, recording a speed of , 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 engine. Later, the engine power was increased to by fitting it with a nitrous oxide injection kit. For the September 2018 record attempt, the vehicle was fitted with a

(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 . It is also fitted with hydraulic suspension.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , 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 {{cite web , 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 {{cite web , 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 {{cite web , 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 {{cite web , 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 Land speed record cars