Kevin Nicks, a mechanic and gardener from Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, 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 he had in his garden. Nicks took twelve months to build the steel frame and wooden shiplap bodywork, install the engine and to make the vehicle roadworthy. The total expenditure was about £5,000. 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 £8,000 fitting Fastest Shed with a new suspension system and a more powerful Audi RS4 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 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 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, breaking the previous record of held by Edd China, by achieving a speed of at Elvington airfield, Yorkshire. On 12 May 2018 Fastest Shed broke its first record, on Pendine Sands, 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 Audi RS4 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 air suspension.
