History -- Modern Marvels World's Fastest, The Review

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(More customer reviews)"The World's Fastest" takes viewers through a brief summary of record-setting speed records on the earth's surface - both land and water. Each vignette portrays not only the record-setting feat, but also earlier versions as long as a century prior.
The first story is that of the world's fastest production car - the Swedish CCR that hit 241 mph on an oval track with its 806 horsepower V-8 and mostly carbon-fiber body. Cost - $590,000, and it beat the seven-year-old record of 240 mph.
Then its the 270 mph Shanghai maglev train developed in Germany. The train's cars are lifted by electromagnetic fields created by magnets under the cars and the track. No rails, wheels, onboard driver, nor locomotive is used. Construction took three years for a 20-mile track.
Not as fast, but still impressive is the older Japanese electric Bullet Train that reaches 186 mph.
Jet powered speedboat racing is quite dangerous due to waves and wind unexpectedly lifting the superfast and relatively light boats. The current record-holding boat (317 mph) was built in its owner's Australian backyard of plywood, using jet engines bought at auction for $60. This record has remained intact for a number of years.
The fastest roller coaster exists in N.J. and takes riders to 128 mph and through brief periods of weightlessness. Five-hundred foot high cranes were utilized in its construction. Its launch technology was borrowed from aircraft carriers, the the coaster is braked at the end of the ride by magnetic fields.
Finally, viewers get to the fastest ride on earth - the rocket-powered sleds at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. "Slippers" instead of wheels are used to hold the sleds onto the rails, which themselves are aligned to within 25 thousandths of an inch over its nearly ten-mile length. Using four rocket stages, a top speed of 6,453 mph was achieved while creating forces of 150 g's; no living entity can survive such forces.

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