World’s smallest car measures 26 inches wide

What’s the size of a washing machine and made from a child’s coin-operated ride? The answer: The world’s smallest car.

Made by British inventor Perry Watkins, the “Wind Up” measures just 41 inches high, 51 inches long and 26 inches wide and is now listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's smallest car with a license to drive on public streets.

It can drive 37 miles per hour and even has seat belts.

1. More in Tech & Science
   1. 10 over-the-top pet gadgets
   2. No, seriously. What killed the dinosaurs?
   3. Cash in: 12 ways to earn extra money online
   4. High-tech sub reveals 3-D images of Titanic
   5. 11 green inventions that go too far

Watkins set out to break the world record before he started building it. He researched details of the current record holder as well as the legal requirements that apply to the construction of motor vehicles.

Watkins used a coin-operated children's ride, which he repainted, for the body and repurposed a chassis from a Shanghai Shenke quad bike. He used rear tires and wheels from a Honda Monkey motorcycle. The front wheels were custom-made to fit tires from a 1939 Brockhouse Corgi paratrooper’s mini motorcycle.

1. More Guinness records
   1. 1,810-pound pumpkin named world’s heaviest
      

      Talk about a great gourd: Guinness World Records has confirmed that a massive pumpkin grown in Wisconsin is officially the... Full story

   2. ‘Navel fluff’ collection weighs a record 22 grams
   3. World’s largest domestic cat stretches over 4 feet 
   4. Longest snake living in captivity dies
   5. World's tallest meets world's smallest

Not one to overlook details, Watkins even affixed a revolving key to the back of the car to give it the appearance of a wind-up toy.

Watkins is no stranger to building odd vehicles; he has also invented the “Flatmobile,” the world’s lowest car.