World Record: The Chrysler That Can Wheelie 2,500 Feet

Ridiculous Rides

FUELLED by methanol alcohol, this Chrysler PT Cruiser currently holds a world record for the longest wheelie. Car enthusiast ‘Nitro’ Mike Kunz, of BC, Canada, has a long established passion for drag racing and chose to modify the vehicle into a wheelstander. He said: “I had to be different. PT Cruiser was the new age of the Hot Rod coming out. And in this business, most people have a truck for wheel standers, and I wanted to be a little bit different, out of the box. So PT Cruiser seems to be right up that alley.” With a top speed of 130mph, this car set the record for the longest wheelie at 2,500 feet in 2012. But Mike is hoping to go even further and plans on breaking that record. He said: “I'm looking for a longer airstrip maybe California or something that has a long airport, where a guy could try and go maybe 5,000, 6,000 feet." Mike is somewhat of a legend on the racing scene and has travelled across the USA to show the car at different race tracks where fans can even sign its front end. Mike said: “The kids love signing the car. I wish I could have been able to do that when I was younger, you know, write on a hot rod car and watch it go down the racetrack.”

Transcript

00:00It's done 130 miles an hour. It looks mean and it holds the Guinness World Record for

00:07the longest wheelie in a car.

00:18After 30 years on the racing scene, Nitro Mike is somewhat of a legend.

00:24When I was younger I was into boats and snowmobiles and street bikes and it just got into drag

00:29racing. Drag racing, to me, is our passion.

00:32And while his current vehicle of choice may have started life as a family hatchback, it's

00:38now a very different beast.

00:41The only thing PT Cruiser on this car is the body. The cage itself is chromoly. It's stretched

00:47to 117 inches for handling purposes. It's a 446 cubic inch Chrysler. It's got an 871

00:56blower on it. It makes about 1,200 to 1,400 horsepower.

01:00And it's been modified with one thing in mind.

01:07This is a specially built wheel stander. It's designed to wheelie.

01:12But why a PT Cruiser?

01:14It had to be different.

01:17And fuelled by methanol alcohol, this vehicle has a top speed of 130 miles per hour.

01:27Mike loves to perform at motor events across the USA.

01:36We do a lot of traveling with this car. Every weekend we're trying to put on a show.

01:42Different events, different tracks, from the west coast all the way to the east coast.

01:48It's nice to meet Mike. I'm going to tell you, he's one of the baddest drivers I've seen yet.

01:52When we built the fiberglass front end for it, I'm not a painter.

01:56So in order to give it some color and character, we let the fans and the kids sign the front of the car.

02:03And eight years ago, Mike took his Cruiser to another level.

02:08On August 12, 2012, in a place called Earlton, Ontario, we set the Guinness World Record

02:16for the longest wheelie in a car. It went 2,500 feet.

02:22We thought the car for sure could do a fair distance. It was whether the driver could do it or not.

02:31And now Mike has his sights set on his own record.

02:35I'm looking for a longer airstrip, maybe California or something, where a guy can try and go maybe 5,000, 6,000 feet.

02:53Let's do this.

03:01The speed of this car, the best it's ever done was 130 miles an hour.

03:07It's got a pretty big wheelie bar on it so we don't flip it over backwards.

03:12The foot box area is wide open so that you can see where you're going when the car is up in the air.

03:20Come on up, grab a seat and get ready.

03:40It was fast and it was loud. It was awesome.

03:44It's the fastest PT Cruiser I've ever seen.

03:50They get to watch the car go down the track. They got their signature on the front of it. It's good for the sport.

04:01It's the greatest show on earth.

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