If you want to be entertained while watching someone nearly kill themselves while trying to break a record you didn’t know existed, head on over to YouTube and check out this wild video of Chris Rollins. In it, he attempts to build a fast trash can to break a land speed record that shouldn’t even exist.
The record in question was set by Andy Jennings, an engineer from the UK. In late 2020, he set a land speed record using a modified trash can — referred to as “wheelie bins” in Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland. Jennings was able to reach 69 km per hour in the trash can. While cool, he had no idea the monster he was creating in opening up the world to try and beat his record.
Apparently Rollins wanted to do better, so he set three goals for himself to improve performance. First, Rollins noticed that in Jennings’ record attempt, he was standing. More than half of his torso was above the rim of the trashcan. That creates wind resistance. Rollins wanted to be inside the trash with the lid closed, with a cutout for him to see out of. Secondly, he still wanted it to be able to function as a trashcan. Lastly, and obviously, it had to be the fastest.
The main goal of course was more power to get more speed. So Rollins got a 6.5-horsepower Honda clone engine with the goal of milking six more horses out of it. What follows is a wild video of him constructing a frame for the bottom of the trash can to hold the engine and bigger wheels, figuring out whether to go with two rear wheels or four wheels for more stability, applying bicycle brakes that did not stop well, two test record attempts where he reached 100 km/h, and one nearly fatal crash where he almost broke his neck. It’s a ride as wild as the record attempt itself. Go check it out.