Well yes, you read the title correctly. While everyone vision of what a shed should be is one thing, Kevin had a totally different and race oriented version of what his own should look like. He put his idea to work and created something actual that set a world record for the fastest shed on the sand with a speed of 78.965 MPH, just this weekend. Kevin was both the designer and driver of this thing which makes the whole deal even more incredible.
A CNN reporter was on the scene this weekend and thanks to them we found out what exactly Kevin felt after his run. According to what CNN reports the 52-year-old stated “What a wonderful experience – it’s nature’s race track,” right after the run across Pendine Sands in South Wales at the Straightliners speed record event. He also added, “It’s where Malcolm Campbell did 174.883 MPH to set the land-speed record in 1927 and there I was 90 years later.”
As we managed to find out, it took Kevin seven months to build the shed, which is just over two tons, but that wasn’t the end of his endeavor. He spent the next four months persuading the authorities to allow the vehicle on the road, legally of course. Thanks to his persistence his shed got its own number plate which makes it the first road legal shed! But the road to getting this thing its own license plate was not easy. Nicks had to get the former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who is Nicks MP, by the way, to write to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency on his behalf. Then there was a “small” thing of mastering 299 pages of rules and a grueling six-hour inspection.
According to what Nicks said the total amount of cash needed to build the shed was just over $7,000 and not counting all the sweat and tears that also went into it, but Nicks also said that “It’s not your average shed. It’s got full electric windows and remote central locking. I made it out of bits and pieces that were lying around.” Although it is aerodynamically equal to the “row of terrace houses” it still managed to set a world record, and according to Nicks, it wasn’t that much of a big deal since he spent tinkering with mechanics almost all of his life. “At the age of 10 I could build an engine and I was welding a couple of years later” Kevin praises. A remarkable man isn’t he?!
But this show wasn’t all about one guy’s shed, there were more magnificent machines on the Pendine Sands that weekend. Briton Tom Anable broke his own monowheel world record on sand, reaching a speed of 44.646 MPH after setting a record of 43.486 MPH in 2015. There was also Helen Lincoln Smith (another Briton) who is the fastest woman on sand. She rode a 600cc Honda and managed to set a new world record of 137.093 MPH. All in all, there were around 40 riders from all over the UK, with teams from France and Holland also competing. Check out the picture of just some of the crazy vehicles that were present there.
