Ohh WHY am I feeding Karrmann ???
Anyway, there IS a landspeed record for hybrid cars and Toyota Prius owns it at 130mph ....
For generations the trek to Bonneville has been an American ritual performed by small, dedicated teams of speed enthusiasts. Backyard mechanics rub elbows with professional drivers and corporate crews. They share the quest to push their machines to be as fast as possible.
Bonneville Speed Week has strict rules and procedures for teams to follow. The teams take their work very seriously. Records set at Bonneville are recognized worldwide.
The idea to take Prius to Bonneville began with a "what if" conversation between Car and Driver writer Aaron Robinson and Toyota National Manager Bill Reinert. The notion of a hybrid speed record was so intriguing that it quickly turned into a fast-track build project at the Toyota Motorsports workshop in Torrance, California. The result was the Prius Greensport, a 2004 Prius with the stock Hybrid Synergy Drive® system, plus a couple of modifications: bigger wheels and tires, and a change in gearing.
The gear modifications make takeoff from the starting line a bit challenging, but at Bonneville, that is no problem. Rules allow vehicles to get a push start because top speed is the main concern. On the so-called Short Track, cars have one mile to get up to full speed before measurements are taken. Two miles remain to reach top speed, and plenty of salt follows to slow down and stop safely.
Prius Greensport claimed the first Bonneville hybrid production car speed record at 130.794 miles per hour with Aaron Robinson behind the wheel. Shigeyuki Hori, Toyota's Executive Chief Engineer for Prius, and Fumiaki Kobayashi, a Toyota Vice President, also had fast runs on the salt. Kobayashi says, "I think it is important that Prius has set the first hybrid-car speed record. We demonstrated that hybrids could exhibit high performance. It is important for us to challenge ourselves and the auto world to see what hybrids can do. Prius Greensport will inspire us to imagine new possibilities, and might challenge others to try Bonneville themselves."
From toyota web site. More pics at http://www.sportivoconcepts.com/modu...article&sid=34