Photo: Facebook/Festival de la Galette de Sarrasin
Some men love to watch the world burn. Others would rather see it come apart in thick billows of smoke, set against the deafening sound of crushed metal. Or, as we call it, a demolition derby.
Guinness has been celebrating various accomplishments under its “Officially Amazing” mantra for years, and the fact that there’s a title for the world’s greatest demolition derby shouldn’t probably come as a surprise. The latest record in this category was set in August 2019—remember those days when we could still hang out in large crowds, having fun?
As March is drawing to an end, so is autoevolution’s celebration of Toyota, the Toyota Month-themed virtual party. What better way is there to go out with a bang than to remember that time when a run-down Toyota Corolla played a major part in setting another world record?
Toyota has many world records, both verified by Guinness and unofficial, and, yes, this is one of them. On August 3, 2019, in Canada, St-Lazare de Bellechasse, during the Festival de la Galette de Sarrasin, the world’s largest demolition derby took place. Put together by Nicolas Tremblay, Julien Fournier, and Paul Morin, the event was meant to honor the local tradition of demolition derbies with a world record.
A Guinness Records official was on the scene and verified the record: 125 cars took part in the derby that lasted roughly 50 minutes. At the end, the winner was declared Mathieu Langlois, who, at the wheel of a busted 2001 Toyota Corolla, was more or less still standing. He got to go home with the giant trophy and a CAD10,000 prize, which is roughly US$8,000 at the current rate exchange.
The first video at the bottom of the page shows footage from the demolition derby: the winner is pictured in the last photo in the gallery. If your French is polished enough, you can watch the 30-minute documentary below of the event, which includes interviews with organizers and local demolition derby legends, including the pioneer of the Demolition of St-Lazare, Raynald Fradette.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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