[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Three years of work and tons of money, to make a vehicle which can't be registered and driven. Beautiful metal working, but for what?

Build it out of wood! Problem solved!

Kevin Nicks converted his Volkswagen Passat into a shed which can travel at 70mph but it was thanks to his local MP, David Cameron, putting in a good work with the DVLA that he got it on the road

Gardener Kevin Nicks from Chipping Norton driving his road legal shed.

A mechanic enlisted the help of his local MP David Cameron when he made an ambitious bid to convert his car into a garden shed.

Kevin Nicks, a 51-year-old mechanic and gardener, decided to merge his two passions by transforming his Volkswagen Passat into a garden shed capable of travelling at more than 70mph.

The two-tonne drivable shed, complete with remote central locking, leather seats and air conditioning, was built for hiring and advertising, with some 20 companies expressing an interest in using the vehicle.

Gardener Kevin Nicks from Chipping Norton with his road legal shed

But Mr Nicks, who lives in a village just two miles away from Chipping Norton, the Oxfordshire town which is home to former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, hit a brick wall when he tried to get a six-hour Individual Vehicle Assessment before it could be made road legal.

Frustrated by red tape which delayed his project, Mr Nicks contacted his MP, the Prime Minister David Cameron, for help to speed up the process.

Mr Nicks said: "I contacted the DVLA and I was straight up against a stone wall. They were keeping me off the road and throwing hurdles in the way. I actually built it as an advertising tool so they destroyed the business - they absolutely killed it dead."

Three days later, Mr Nicks received a hand-signed letter in the post.

Mr Cameron wrote: "Dear Mr Nicks. Thank you for writing to me about your drivable shed. It sounds like an interesting feat to convert your car into a shed, a project which I am sure took a lot of time and effort."

The Prime Minister wrote to the head of the DVLA but the project took a further four months to get off the ground.

While his new business got off to a bad start, Mr Nicks said it was "brilliant" to see people admiring the "bonkers" vehicle when he visited the supermarket.

He said: "I'm so proud to be the builder of it. When you pull up to the traffic lights it makes people smile because it just looks so wrong."

The car-turned-shed has already survived a 200-mile trip to York and has created a new world record after reaching a top speed of 70.8mph on a private airfield near York – breaking a previous record of 58.4mph by TV mechanic Edd China in 2011.

Mr Nicks said he now had plans to build more "crazy" cars, adding: "Since building it I found lots of people do crazy things to cars. I’ve got lots more ideas for equally weird vehicles. It’s just down to funding now.

Daily Telegraph.