Two friends decided to embark on a 500-mile trip in toy cars with their hearts set on achieving a new Guinness World Record in the longest distance traveled in the novelty vehicles.
Lauren Lee and Cassie Aran, of Florida, set about making the drive from Jacksonville to Key West in Freddo’s ‘Rocket’ convertible model, branded as the ‘world’s fastest’ two-seat toy cars – with Lauren riding a blue version, and Cassie in a red one.
The duo, both 29, who have been best friends since kindergarten, aptly kicked off their journey at the Friendship Foundation in Jacksonville in mid-March.
All the while, the pair worked diligently to follow the many guidelines established by the Guinness regulators to prove that the record was made fair and square.
Lauren Lee and Cassie Aran, of Florida, set off on a 500-mile journey from Jacksonville to Key West in mid-March- traversing the route by toy convertible cars
The pair, who’ve been besties since kindergarten, set out to break the Guinness World Record for longest distance traveled by toy car. Cassie is pictured at left, Lauren is pictured at right
As documented in the above photograph, the best friends appropriately kicked off the trek next to Jacksonville’s Friendship Fountain
What’s more, they made it so their journey doubled as a fundraiser with the goal of ending animal kill shelters
The toy car model, by brand Freddo, weighs 78 pounds and can move up to 11 mph
The journey saw them traverse down the east coast of Florida. On May 6th, the official Facebook page for the city of Key West revealed they’d completed the trek
‘Fun fact,’ Lauren shared. ‘We actually were at this foundation almost a year ago, planning this route. And this fountain was under construction. It was completely blocked off and closed,’ she said.
‘We were here as recently as last week, planning the route still, and the fountain was still closed. But we figured that the Friendship Fountain was still a perfect place to start, so we decided to come here anyway.
‘And to our surprise, it’s open! Which is nothing if not a good start!’ enthused Lauren.
One of the key rules required by the reference institution was that they document every single stop, every single day.
With this, they’re expected to keep meticulous records of daily average and max speeds as well as exact distance traveled.
Among the ‘morning’ checklist items was to identify ‘recognizable landmarks’ and document along the planned route for the day.
They also have to have their GPS trackers on at all times while traveling.
Each night, the duo committed to logging the ‘exact time’ they arrived at their hotel or campsite, along with recording the coordinates of the site.
As one of the rules established by the Guinness regulators, the two had to thoroughly document each stop, including putting down the reason for it
The pair were required by Guinness to thoroughly document each day on the road. Pictued is their entry for Day 6
As a fun way to create a souvenir of the journey, the pair collected bumper stickers from each local they passed through, covering the hood of the toy cars
The uneven terrain proved a frequent nuisance, given the delicate nature of the cars’ inner workings, fully exposed on the machine’s underside
They were allowed to leave the car to remove obstacles in their way
When applicable, they also have to ask any hotel staffers on duty to sign their ‘witness book’ and ask them ‘for a statement.’
Every step of the way, Lauren explained, Guinness expected them to ‘take photos of everything.’
A glimpse of their log for ‘Day 6’ in one of Cassie’s post showed a max speed of just over 10 miles per hour, with 8.5 miles covered in total for the day.
According to Freddo’s user manual, the cars can go at a pace roughly between 6mph and 11mph – a range in which most people can briefly maintain a running pace.
At the same time, the trip doubled as a fundraiser to help end kill shelters, with options to donate to the cause on the trip’s website.
The pair also committed to collecting bumper stickers from every town along their route, with the hopes of creating a ‘work of art’ on the hoods.
‘We want to cover our entire hood, and make it essentially a whole road map of where we’ve been on this journey.
‘So when we submit the cars to Guinness, we can keep the hood,’ Lauren explained in one TikTok.
Yet another hurdle the pair encountered many times: fitting their toy cars into hotel elevators
In a vlog, Cassie admitted that not all of the hotel staffers were thrilled with the process of the pair ushering their toy cars across the hotels and into the rooms
When spending the night at a hotel, Cassie and Lauren would take the cars with them to their room, storing them bedside
While the two maintained upbeat, can-do attitudes, the journey has been plagued with technical difficulties – both in the toy-car maintenance and the logistics of safely storing the vehicles overnight.
Any uneven terrain – which they frequently encountered on the less-than perfectly maintained sidewalks of Florida – posed a threat to the integrity of the cars, with the mechanics located on the underside, with little protection.
They also often struggled to get the cars in and out of hotel elevators at the end and start of each day.
‘Sometimes the person at the front desk loves us. Sometimes they don’t! Today, she definitely didn’t!’ quipped Cassie in a Day 2 vlog.
When they’d spend the night in hotels, they’d store the cars in their room at their bedside.
The pair toted a bag of tools to make repairs to the cars as needed
The pair’s journey was indeed plagued with mechanical issues – though the duo took each hurdle in stride
On May 6, the city of Key West’s official Facebook page shared that the pair had made it – though the two have yet to reveal the news on their own channels
Each car alone, sans baggage, weighs in at 78 pounds, ensuring that Cassie and Lauren were never without a challenge to surmount whenever it was necessary to manually lug it from point A to point B.
Early on, Cassie also bemoaned that she was constantly getting face-fuls of dirt from passing traffic, compelling the two to invest in sports glasses.
The cars, which run on rechargeable batteries, also broke down periodically, for a myriad of reasons.
Never discouraged – and always prepared – the girls came with a bag full of tools to make the necessary repairs, often calling up Freddo’s customer service for guidance.
At some point on the afternoon of May 6, it appeared that the pair had finally made it in one piece to Key West, with the city triumphantly posting on its Facebook page: ‘The City of Key West on Saturday welcomed two 29-year-old Florida women who just complete their record setting 500-mile journey in motorized toy cars.
‘Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee were greeted by a supportive crowd at the Southernmost Point, including Commissioner Clayton Lopez and City Manager Al Childress. They drove the toy cars from Jacksonville to Key West.’
The pair had made the journey in a little over 50 days.
In the meantime, the pair’s many fans, numbering in the millions between Cassie’s YouTube channel, their Instagram accounts, and their TikToks, are eagerly awaiting updates from the triumphant travelers themselves.
