World records were meant to be broken, but some are just so pointless and arbitrary it's a surprise anyone would attempt them. Here are the ten dumbest automotive world records as chosen by Jalopnik readers.
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Photo Credit:Custom Sound Works
10.) World's Heaviest Limousine
Suggested By: Kenny Starr
Why It's Dumb: The Midnight Rider limousine weighs 25 tons. It has three lounges onboard and takes a crew of five to operate (including bar staff). It's 70 feet long and eight feet wide, and took seven years to build. Everything about the Midnight Rider makes me wonder why it exists. If you're going to a bar or nightclub, do you really have to take it with you? If the Midnight Rider is something you're into though, you can find more info here.
Photo credit: Youtube
9.) Heaviest Car Balanced on Head
Suggested By: E34 is an underrated E30, except better
Why It's Dumb: So this John Evans fellow has 22 Guinness records to his name already, but he just needed one more. So he took a Mini, and balanced it on his head. Right. That makes total sense. Before that, (and in this very clip) Big John balances 339 pounds of beer kegs atop his dome, so you know he's a serious professional balancer. Now, he's stepped up his game for a 352 pound Mini. It has no interior, but its engine is still in place. "We must stress again, that you must never try to balance a car on your head." Really guys? Because I've got a Smart car at home that's just itching to go airborne. If you want to skip all the beer keg nonsense and get straight to the main event, it starts at around 7:45.
Photo credit: Youtube
8.) Loudest Car Stereo
Suggested By: wheatieboy
Why It's Dumb: Custom Sound Works of Lubbock, Texas claims to have 15 World Records in hand for the loudest car stereo. In 2005, they pushed their system to 178 dB. According to hearing protection group H.E.A.R., the loudest sound that can be produced is 194 dB. That means Custom Sound Works' van is only 16 dB away from being the loudest thing in the world. The van's doors are bolted shut and there's very little room for passengers inside, all in the name of producing louder sound.
Photo credit: Custom Sound Works
7.) Fastest 360 Degree Flip
Suggested By: RocketmaN
Why It's Dumb: Unless these guys are out on rally stages flipping crashed cars back onto the course, I can see very few real-world applications for this outstanding display of strength and skill. When would you ever have these guys in the same place at the same time, ready to flip a car all the way around? And when would the car be completely gutted? Even a rally machine has glass and an engine in it.
Photo credit: Youtube
6.) Most Motorcycles Jumped by a Bus
Suggested By: 472CID
Why It's Dumb: Lawrence Legend of Australia jumped a record 17 motorcycles from behind the wheel of his double decker bus a couple of years ago. He was also the stuntman who tried the same trick on the first season of Top Gear, but met with much less success that time.
Photo credit: Youtube
5.) Longest Distance Driven in Reverse
Suggested By: Desu-San-Desu
Why It's Dumb: Muveen Khan of India claims to have driven his car in reverse for 1553 miles, without stopping. He holds two world records in the Limca Book of Records, which is India's version of the Guinness Book. Mr. Khan is said to drive everywhere in reverse, and makes his living as a driving instructor (teaching people how to drive forwards, we hope). He's invited Guinness on several occasions to observe and record his record-breaking drives, but so far they haven't shown. We wish him the best of luck on his quest for international recognition.
Photo credit: Youtube
4.) Lowest Roadworthy Car
Suggested By: $kaycog
Why It's Dumb: The world's lowest roadworthy car lives in Japan and goes by the name "Mirai," or "future." It measures 17.79 inches from the ground to its highest point, and can travel at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. The previous record holder was from England, and was 19 inches tall. Mirai is a single-seater and powered by an electric motor, and was built by students at Okayama Sanyo High School in November of 2010.
Photo credit: Youtube
3.) Most Attempts at Driving Exam
Suggested By: Jackie
Why It's Dumb: Cha Sa-soon is a 69-year old woman living in a rural part of South Korea, and had to try he country's driving exam a record 960 times before passing. She had trouble understanding the terminology and phrasing of the questions, and was delayed for many years while raising her children. She failed the written test 949 times, passing on her 950th attempt. She then had to take two driving skill tests, which she failed four times each before passing. As a congratulations, Kia gave her a brand new Soul, and put her in one of their commercials.
Photo credit: The New York Times
2.) Greatest Distance by a Vehicle In Reverse On Snow
Suggested By: jip1080
Why It's Dumb: I don't want to sound overly cynical here, but isn't it awful convenient that Mitsubishi got their Outlander to go a nice, even 300 meters backwards, on snow, in 30 seconds? And again, when would this be useful? Maybe if your'e James Bond, trying to escape evil henchmen, but then don't you think Mr. Bond would have something cooler than an Outlander to drive? Props to Mitsubishi, I guess, but who really cares?
Photo credit: Youtube
1.) Fastest Car Window Opened by a Dog
Suggested By: rawtoast
Why It's Dumb: Striker, a border collie, holds this world record honor at 11.34 seconds. The record was achieved with crank windows (what are those?) in Quebec City, Canada, even though Striker and his trainer are from Hungary. The record was set in 2004, and no challengers have stepped forward since then. Come on bored dog owners, don't you want your pooch to be famous?
Photo credit: Luuux.com