Just in case you haven’t heard of Guy Martin, Guy is an ex-motorcycle racer from the UK who now works in TV. When you watch him in action, you can quickly see that he’s not like a conventional TV presenter. He doesn’t like to work with a script, preferring to improvise and adopt a more relaxed, jovial, and conversational approach with his TV crew and audience.

Guy loves anything that involves speed and danger. He's also broken numerous Guinness World Records, including:

  • Fastest speed on a gravity-powered snow sled at 83 mph
  • Fastest speed in a soapbox at 85 mph
  • Highest speed on a wall of death at 78 mph
  • Fastest hovercraft at 75 mph
  • Fastest tractor at 135 mph

Not bad for a man who has had the misfortune to break his back twice during his motorcycle racing career. But it's Guy’s broad northern accent and happy-go-lucky attitude that have made him a popular character on British TV. Further adding to his reputation is the time he attempted to break the world's fastest EV record in a Volkswagen Beetle.

RELATED: Bike Auctions To Raise Money For Guy Martin’s 400-MPH Motorcycle Record Attempt

The Challenge Guy Martin Set Out

Enfield 8000 EV
Via: YouTube

So we were keen to see what the daredevil had in store for us with his new TV show ‘Guy Martin: The World’s Fastest Electric Car?’ which aired in August 2021.

In the opening scene, Guy tells us that he wants to build the fastest electric car in the world, one that he can take to Santa Pod and break the quarter-mile world record set by Johnny Smith. Then the maverick ex-mechanic amusingly admits that he has absolutely no knowledge of electric cars.

I better do some research,” he says, smiling.

Johnny Smith is the British motoring journalist that set the World Record at Santa Pod in 2016 when he took a 1974 Enfield 8000 (above) down the raceway in just 9.86 seconds. Smith reached an impressive top speed of 121 mph on the quarter-mile drag.

An amazing achievement when you look at what Johnny did it in. This minuscule little car originally only had eight horsepower! Yet, somehow his team managed to boost it up to a massive 800 hp for the record-breaking run.

Preparation For Guy Martins Attempt At The World Record

Porsche Taycan Turbo S White
Via: YouTube

So with the gauntlet firmly laid down, Guy starts doing his homework on the history of electric cars and how they work, stating, “The best way to get some know-how is to do a bit of learning! Have a go and have a Race!”.

To personally verify that electric vehicles can go fast, Guy takes a ride in a 680 bhp Porsche Taycan Turbo, the world's fastest EV bus, an electric tractor, a remote control digger, and even an eBike. Paying homage to Simon Cowell, he proceeds to wheely the vastly over-powered bicycle, falling backward off it onto the tarmac, luckily escaping unhurt.

We then see him at a friend’s motor garage in Wales, a very promising business that converts prestige cars and classics into EVs using Tesla technology. The two of them go for a ride in an electric van, and Guy is pleasantly surprised at the vehicle's performance, with his friend reassuring him “If you want to go fast, Electric is where its at!”.

Back at the garage, his friend agrees to loan Guy a car for the drag race attempt. When the camera pans around to reveal which car they've chosen, well, we were pretty shocked; they went with a small pale blue, fifty-year-old VW Beetle 1303s (which admittedly already had a Tesla system installed), but not the most aerodynamic of cars.

VW Beetle
Via: YouTube

The pair then thrash out a quick plan. “We need to give it more power, put it on a diet, more grip, and sort out the aerodynamics,” says Guy’s friend. That's quite a tall order for this little VW, which was not designed to do 100 mph, let alone 130 mph.

So they set about removing just about everything that isn’t needed for the Santa Pod visit, and after just half an hour, they manage to reduce the car’s weight by five percent, to around 2,425 lbs.

VW Beetle
Via: YouTube

The next stop is a wind tunnel where a one-megawatt turbine blasts an airstream over the Beetle, applying roughly 440 lbs of force to check that it won’t ‘take off’ or flip over at high speed. The initial test results are not good, potentially catastrophic. However, after front and rear spoilers are duct taped on, a further test thankfully brings the VW into the safe zone.

They then turn their energies to power. Loaded with 500 kilos of batteries, front and rear, which deliver 600 hp, the car is put on a rolling road and tested. Anchored with huge chains, the car is revved to the max, and smoke starts rising around the wheels as the experts, huddled around a computer screen, scratch their heads over how they can squeeze out even more power.

“Lets push it up and see what happens,” says one of the team as they delve into the unknown and more tires start to shred on the drive belt.

With multiple laptops plugged into the car, the room looks more like a hackers convention, as they search for the sweet spot amongst hundreds of software parameters. The car finally registers 647 newton-meters of torque, and one of the team confirms that it now has "as much power as a one hundred grand Porsche!"

To test out that power, Guy organizes a race with a McLaren 570s. And when both cars pull up to the start line, the VW looks very much like the underdog next to the 200 mph hypercar.

Orange McLaren 570S
Via: Pinterest

But once the race countdown reaches 'Go', the McLaren is remarkably left for dust, with the Beetle immediately sprinting ahead of it, unable to keep up with the little German missile. When he steps out of the VW, Guy has a broad grin on his face, stating, “Wow, this is the future of hot-rodding!”.

RELATED: This Is The Fastest VW Beetle In The World

The Result Of Guy Martin's Attempt At The World Record

Guy Martin VW Beetle
Via: YouTube

It’s a warm but fairly breezy day at Santa Pod. The small VW Beetle, with Guy at the wheel, squares up to the start line. Smoke is billowing around it as he builds up the revs and warms up the tires. The traffic light start signal suddenly turns green, and the little bug pounces forward, blasting up the track in a straight line to record a 10.8 second timing, matching the time of a Ferrari F40. But unfortunately a full one second slower than Johnny Smith’s record run.

In an attempt to limit wheel spin and improve grip, they apply glue to the track and tweak the tire pressures. Guy then attempts his second run. This time recording 10.6 seconds and finishing the quarter-mile at 123 mph. Things are looking good at this point.

To give them even more edge they have the track swept to remove pebbles, and we watch open-mouthed as he takes his third run.

Guy Martin At Santa Pod In 2021
Via: YouTube

But there is visible frustration on Guy’s face when he crosses the finish line with a time of 10.7 seconds flashing on the digital scoreboard.

After some more brave attempts and with the lap timings going backwards, they reluctantly decide to call it a day. It’s unlikely that this is the last time we’ll see them attempt this. They looked like they were enjoying themselves far too much and Guy is not a person that gives up easily.

Santa Pod Raceway
Via: YouTube

The serious underlying message that you get from the program is that electric cars are capable of going extremely fast, and that its very likely that they will overtake the internal combustion engine in the speed race in the not too distant future.

It also showed us how simple it is to crank up the horsepower on an electric car, if you have an experienced aerodynamics engineer, an EV specialist and a team of software experts handy!

But it does highlight that spoilers are not just good-looking bolt-ons for show, demonstrating that they can seriously improve the stability of a car at high speed.

Along with all the skilled engineering and know-how, you also need someone with the guts to jump in the driving seat and be willing to drive a ridiculously over-powered test car to the limit, and Guy Martin certainly qualified for that. It's just a bit unfortunate he didn't break the record but maybe next time!