This is not your grandfather’s mobility scooter, unless your grandfather’s wheels were seriously turbo-charged. Affectionately named the “Rascal,” this mobility scooter proves that getting older doesn’t have to mean getting slower — in fact, just the opposite. In a video posted to YouTube last week, the Rascal sets the Guinness World Record for being the world’s fastest geriatric scooter, capping out at an impressive 107.6 miles per hour. Of course, whether or not you want your aging family members capable of outpacing you in your car is a personal choice, but you should at least be providing them with options, right?
Of course, the Rascal sort of defeats its own purpose — after all, the entire point of today’s mobility scooters are to allow the elderly to get around in a safe, sensible manner. There’s nothing safe nor sensible about blazing through retirement complex at over 100 mph though.
It should be noted that the Rascal isn’t actually a mobility scooter. Rather, the vehicle was designed with the sole purpose of claiming the coveted “fastest in the world” title, so British mechanics David Anderson and Matthew Hine stuck an 80 horsepower 600cc Suzuki engine and racing slick tires under the scooter shell.
The duo worked for six months to simply build the record setter, and then had to spend a lot more time figuring out how to maneuver it (you see, it has no front brakes to speak of). While the world record was actually broken way back in 2014, the powers that be had to take quite some time to verify the results.
So no, you can’t buy it for your grandparents (or for yourself). But it’s just good to know that a 100 mph scooter exists in the world. And perhaps one day, when you too are in need of a mobility scooter, speeds like these will be considered the norm.
