Reversing into the record books

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The Keimola racing circuit had been closed in 1978 due to financial troubles. As a last hurrah, a group of journalists from the publishers of two Finnish motoring magazines, Tekniikan Maailma and Vauhdin Maailma had an idea. They wanted to break the record for driving in reverse gear set by a Danish group at 386 kilometers, of which non-stop 127 kilometers.

Having discovered that a Volvo 343 with a CVT transmission had the same top speed both forward and reverse, the choice was made. In trials, the car was found out to be surprisingly balanced in the corners even in reverse, possibly due to the even weight distribution provided by the transaxle design. Wobbly handling on the straights was somewhat improved with changes to wheel alignment. The car was fitted with a roll bar, a pair of rearward facing high beam headlights and a rev counter mounted to the passenger side B-pillar, conveniently in the drivers sight when reversing. Otherwise the car remained stock.

It was decided to crush all previous records and to do a 24 hour non-stop run at the Keimola racing circuit. At noon, on a rainy September 20. 1978 the crew – four drivers supported by two mechanics and a sports massage therapist – embarked on the record attempt, followed closely by a unbiased timing staff and a group of photographers.

Due to carburator freezing problems in the early stages, the non-stop 24 hour run was compromised. The crew ploughed on in the rain. In the end, the crazy finns ran 1 769,6 kilometers in 24 hours, of which  1 168,6 km non-stop. Even the refuelling and driver changes were made while moving slowly on the pitlane! The average speed for the non-stop part of the record was 70 km/h. The best laptime, in reverse, was 2 minutes and 11 seconds. In forwards, the best time accomplished in the same car was found to be just 11 seconds faster!

In the end the record never made it to the Guinness book of records, since they did not approve records accomplished by a team. But books are made every year, records like this...well, not that often. To our knowledge, it still stands.

Pictures: VM/ TM Archives
Words by: Matti Ouvinen, Mobilisti

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