Tomorrow is the day that 28+ Medaille students will attempt to break a Guinness World Record. While other students are cramming for exams, these nimble men and women will be cramming themselves into one of the smaller cars on the road. The standing record was set in 2000 by folks in Kremser, Austria (25 people), though there was an unofficial (yet successful) attempt made by Penn State Abington students in 2001 (27 people). Taking no chances, the number of participants has been set at 28, and Guinness has signed off that this ‘good old college try’ is a legitimate attempt. That’s important, especially seeing that the Penn State record never counted. Buffalo’s Powder Keg Festival organizers took no chances when gearing up to set the Guinness Book’s World’s Largest Ice Maze (see record) – they even flew in a Guinness staff member to record the victory.
Apparently the VW Bug has been an unofficial mascot of the college and has been used in publicity campaigns previous to this record setting attempt. It was only a matter of time before someone had the brilliant idea to break the standing ‘cram’ record. That doesn’t mean that this is going to be easy. There’s a reason that the record has stood intact for over a decade. The rules are tough: participants must all be over 5′ tall, the doors must shut, no seats can be removed and all windows must be sealed. Participants then have just ten minutes to pull off the stunt… and then the car must start!
