WINNER: SCOT BURNER
They say genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. In the case of Scot Burner's new Guinness World Record, we'd say it's 99 percent inspiration. He earned the certificate for fastest mile driven in reverse, averaging 48 mph lapping his C7 Corvette around the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park racetrack in Kentucky. We did something similar in 2011 with rental cars, which got four of our staffers banned from Avis for life. Turns out loss prevention has no sense of humor.
If Burner's feat inspires you to make a run for a record, find a Lincoln Town Car. As our decade-old story can tell you, it'll do a terrifying 63 mph in reverse, 9 mph faster than the highest speed Burner saw. Hertz may still have a few in service.
LOSER: MASERATI
Naming its MC20 the Cielo might not seem like much of an L for Maserati on the surface. After all, the roof is removable, and cielo is Italian for sky. But back in 1999, Buick introduced its own Cielo, a really lame concept car based on the Regal sedan. The Goldleaf Chromaflair-a metallic orange concept lacked a roof and had a look that may have been inspired by a plastic grocery bag. We'll just lay it out here: This sort of design and thinking led to things like the Pontiac Aztek. Maserati's Cielo is gorgeous, but when we hear Cielo, all we can see is that Buick.
WINNER: ROSS CHASTAIN
This story is from the January 2023 edition of Car and Driver.
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This story is from the January 2023 edition of Car and Driver.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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