Fastest speed achieved by a wheel loader (prototype)

Loaders – tractor-like vehicles with a forward-facing bucket, used for heaping material into trucks – aren’t exactly known for their straight-line speed (ask any motorist who’s ever been stuck behind one). However, on 13 September 2012, a modified Volvo L60G PCP wheel loader (a loader running on wheels rather than tracks, like a tank) set a new world speed record of 120 km/h (75 mph), on a 1.8-km stretch of runway at Sweden’s Eskilstuna Airport. The modifications – which include firmer tyres, a bucket fitted with a spoiler for improved aerodynamics, an engine tune and the removal of excess weight – were carried out by a team of technicians from Swecon, a Swedish Volvo construction equipment dealer. The vehicle’s top speed prior to the refit was just 46 km/h (28 mph).