THE inventor of a unique car which runs on gas generated from coffee production waste has put the record-breaking vehicle up for sale on eBay to raise cash for his next ambitious project.

Martin Bacon's coffee car – a specially modified 1989 Ford P100 pick up – secured its place in the Guinness Book of Records last year after reaching an average speed of more than 65mph.

He then clocked up another 2,000 miles taking the car on a round-Britain tour.

However, it has come to the end of the road and Mr Bacon, who runs Teesdale Conservation Volunteers (Rotters) at Startforth, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, has put the coffee car up for sale on internet auction site.

He plans to use money from the sale to fund his next project – most likely to be a waste-powered boat which he hopes to sail around the UK.

“I put it on eBay to see if there was any interest in it and it's just gone mad,” said Mr Bacon.

“There were 677 views in the first 24 hours, including a lot of interest from the USA.”

The record breaking vehicle was actually the third coffee car built by Mr Bacon.

His first version was used on the BBC's Bang Goes The Theory and could now go on display in the Science Museum, Manchester.

A second version followed and was later stripped down with parts used on the final coffee car.

Fuel comes from coffee chaff pellets which are heated in a charcoal fire, producing carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

The gas is cooled and filtered before hydrogen is combusted to drive the engine.

“Each time we built one, we changed the design and it got better and better.

"However, the third one was still not perfect by any stretch of the imagination – and it smells like and open fire,” said Mr Bacon.

“But it did do a 2,000 mile tour with no problems at all.”

He added: “Now we would like to build something completely different, either a boat still using some kind of waste to generate gas, or a plane, something like a converted old Cessna.

“We need to raise some money for whatever we do and selling the coffee car would be ideal. It's in great condition.”

The guide price for the coffee car is £5,000, but Mr Bacon said he was open to offers. The vehicle will remain on eBay for the rest of January.