A petrol head from Devon has completed a motorcycle road race in a jet-powered shopping trolley.
Madcap Matt McKeown of Plymouth built his wacky racer – which has a top speed of 80mph – from an abandoned cart he found in a ditch.
He bolted on brakes, go-kart wheels and a 150 horsepower engine from a Chinook helicopter before taking it for time trials.
Matt first set a record of 45.5mph then made several tweaks and broke his own record by reaching 71.4mph at Elvington Airfield in North Yorks.
On Sunday (4/9) Matt wowed the crowds when he competed in the Shelsley Walsh Hill climb in Worcestershire.
Despite crawling up the 1,000 yard course – which hits a steep 1:7 incline at its peak – Matt wasn’t last to finish and managed to beat a number of other conventional bikes.
He said: “Everything about it gets very twitchy and unpredictable the faster you go and the stability drops off dramatically, so going out there and pushing over 60mph on the first run, was very, very sketchy.
“The trolley has a go-kart chassis because it doesn’t go in a straight line with trolley wheels.
“You also need a jet engine and a big one which puts about 700lbs of thrust out the back.
“It is capable of doing 80mph.
“I’ve got an insatiable desire to make things which aren’t very quick and making them go very quick.”
