Mini claims to have completed the first unassisted backflip in a car.
The man at the wheel, Guerlain Chicherit, executed the jump from a static ramp in a highly modified Mini Countryman John Cooper Works SUV.
Mini claims Chicherit is the first driver to have completed an automotive backflip using the car's propulsion only, without any ramp assistance, "in other words, without the aid of a special ramp with moving elements to boost the car's rotational movement".
Chicherit is a world champion freestyle skier and champion rally driver. He completed the feat in Tignes, France.
The Mini brand is no stranger to a publicity stunt. It has been involved in a number of high-profile exploits, including world record attempts for driving a car, at speed, into a tight parallel parking spot (with just 15 centimetres to spare) and teaching dogs to drive cars.
The Cooper also lit up the big screen with a series of spectacular stunts in the 2003 remake of the Italian Job.
It's the first time the iconic British hatch has seen some time upside-down, though.
In 2012, toy car maker Hot Wheels completed a double loop-the-loop, with two rally-spec coupes successfully looping through 360 degrees on a track.
In 2009, professional driver and Pikes Peak rally champion Rhys Millen attempted a backflip in a Red Bull-prepared truck, but crashed upon landing.
Flipping mini!
Flipping mini!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Flipping mini!
I wonder how many times it didn't work before they got it right?
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oldr_n_wsr
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Re: Flipping mini!
We'll never know.Joe Guy wrote:I wonder how many times it didn't work before they got it right?
Without the right ramp, I can't see it happening.
I understand the physics when you try (force) a motorcycle or snowmobile to do the flip, but inside a car one cannot just "pull here" and "push there" to get the thing into the flip. One must rely on the ramp. While it may not have "moveable" parts to aid in the flip, the original design must be there to get the front end to go backwards over it's ass end.
A bike or snowmobile only need a steep incline, power and a rider with balls.
I did a flip on a motorcycle (landed on both wheels but bounced off after that) but never on my snowmobile