Lowest road legal car: Mirai

Meet Mirai, the latest addition to the motoring section of the Guinness Book of World Records with the dubious honour of being the world's lowest road legal car. It stands just 45.2cm off the tarmac at its highest point, making a Ford GT40 look like a double-decker bus.

Mirai, which means 'future' in Japanese, was created by a team from the automobile engineering course at Okayama Sanyo High School in Asakuchi, Japan. Even the school principal recognises the machine has its drawbacks: "It can be frightening to drive Mirai on a big street, especially when the speed goes over 40km/h because the road is very close to the driver's eye point. Also, you can feel afraid that you will be run over by other cars."

At least the car will be able to get in for free at toll booths and multi-storey car parks by whizzing under the barriers. The crucial thing for drivers will be remembering to duck!

Click on to see more strange record-breaking cars from the motoring world...