A Christmas tree has just gone 174mph*

Christmas trees are, generally, not that fast. They take years to grow. They spend their lives as upright, static shelters for whatever gifts were on offer the night before the big day. Speed isn't a key tenet of a Christmas tree's make-up.

John Hennessey has decided to shun convention, and strapped a giant six-foot Douglas Fir onto the roof of a Hellcat and gone for a spirited flat out run. Because nothing screams Christmas like a tree being run like an extra from a heist movie.

Along Continental Tyre's proving ground in Texas - the same proving ground where Hennessey ran a Mustang to 207.9mph - an unmodified Challenger Hellcat was deployed, using its 707bhp to propel the poor tree at quite a rate.

174mph, as it turns out. The driver in question was Brian Smith, director of Ford's Performance Racing School. So a man who knows a thing or two about speed.

Watch the video here...