Coffee-powered car proves an espresso as it roars to record

With a Guinness World Records adjudicator looking on, conservationist Martin Bacon, 42, got his specially modified Ford P100 pick-up truck to go more than 65mph.

Watched by his wife Jill, father-of-two Mr Bacon, from Teesdale, completed his run at Woodford Airfield in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

The speed is a world best for this type of vehicle. It uses coffee chaff pellets – the waste product from coffee production – which are heated in a charcoal fire where they break down 
into carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

The gas is cooled and filtered before hydrogen is combusted to drive the engine.

The car was commissioned by The Co-Operative to mark the 10th anniversary of it converting all its coffee to Fairtrade.

Mr Bacon said: “Any car can run on gasification. In fact, during the Second World War, there were over 100,000 vehicles in the UK that ran on gasification, including cars, buses and delivery vehicles.

“At the beginning of the 20th century, there were over 90,000 vehicles running on gasifiers across the world.”

The car will embark on a road trip around the UK, stopping at 37 Co-operatives food stores en route.