A terminally ill man is bidding to set new speed record at Pendine in a mobility scooter with a difference.

Andrew Jenkins is currently undergoing treatment for a tumour in his aorta and is receiving treatment at Swansea’s Singleton Hospital.

To get about, he uses a state-of-the-art velomobile - christened the Tangerine Dream Machine. He even takes it into the hospital to wait in it for appointments.

Virtually silent, but with a lively turn of pace, the velomobile draws looks of surprise and plenty of grins especially when he’s seen out and about.

Mr. Jenkins, 54, is planning to attempt a land speed record in his bicycle car at Pendine Sands, and is meeting Simon Hart MP tomorrow (Friday) to promote his proposal.

He has ordered a new gearing system from the United States which he hopes can triple his speed capability to around 125 mph.

After his Pendine challenge, Mr. Jenkins plans to glide around the UK visiting all 17 Maggie’s cancer care centres as in the time he has left he wants to raise as much money as he can for Maggie’s, whose Singleton-based centre he frequently pops into. His ultimate target is £5 million - enough to build a new Maggie’s in the shape the Tangerine Dream Machine.

He is hoping that a successful land speed record will give him the spotlight he needs to launch the endeavour.

A former senior research assistant in electrical engineering at Swansea University, despite graduating with a degree in philosophy, Mr. Jenkins worked in industry and set-up a couple of companies.

But life changing dramatically just over two years ago when he discovered a lump in his calf. He was sent for a scan and it revealed a bulge in his aorta. It then emerged that he had a very rare form of angiosarcoma - a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels.

Morriston Hospital surgeon and professor Saeed Ashraf used a pioneering technique to create a three-dimensional image of the plum-sized tumour which he then removed during a complex six-hour operation.

Sadly though the cancer had spread, requiring Mr. Jenkins to have an operation on his back. That surgery is another reason why he is comfortable in a laid-back position in his velomobile, although with no reverse gear he has to deploy his feet, Fred Flintstone-style.

A father of one, he said he was very grateful to Swansea University technician Stuart Humphrey for his expert help in rebuilding the Tangerine Dream Machine. He said he has also had help from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea.

Looking ahead to his Pendine Sands venture, Mr. Jenkins said he might have to deploy small drogues if he fishtailed at speed.

“The two wheels at the front steer and brake, the drive is at the back,” he said.

In the meantime, Mr. Jenkins will be a visible presence around Swansea, regularly visiting Maggie’s where he drops off full charity boxes and picks up empty ones.

“They bring out a table with tea and biscuits at Maggie’s so I don’t have to get out,” he said.

Mr. Jenkins has survived longer than had been expected when his diagnosis was made, and is determined to make a difference.

But he added: “There really is not much time.”

For more information about the challenge, see http://tangerinedreammachine.org/