Escapologist flees locked box second before car smashes through it in death-defying stunt

This is the jaw-dropping moment a man escaped a box he was locked inside just one second before a car ploughed through it.

But don’t worry, these guys knew exactly what they were doing.

The sensational stunt was performed by Brazilian illusionists Klauss Durães and Henry Vargas for our Italian TV series Lo Show dei Record.

Together, they claimed the record for fastest time to escape a straitjacket and box (oncoming vehicle) with a time of 38.70 seconds.

And every single one of those seconds was as tense as the last.

The attempt took place at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy, in December 2023.

As things kicked off, Klauss was fastened into a straitjacket and placed, standing upright, inside a large box.

The box was padlocked beneath two holes just big enough for Klauss to stick his hands out of.

Tense footage from inside the box shows the escapologist wriggling around as much as he could in the coffin-sized space to get the jacket off.

Henry waited behind the wheel of the car, accelerating the moment he saw Klauss’s hands appear through the holes.

The rules of the record said that once he began driving, he had to maintain a speed of 20 mph (32 km/h), and he could not stop.

That meant it was a life-or-death race against time for Klauss.

He managed to open the padlock and leap to safety in the nick of time, adding to the heart-in-your-throat atmosphere by stumbling.

In the blink of an eye, Henry drove into the box, smashing it to smithereens.

The audience watching back in the studio burst into triumphant applause as the pair – quite literally – broke the record.

Henry, left, and Klauss celebrate

Klauss and Henry hugged as they were reunited and proudly held their Guinness World Records certificate in the air.

Just wow!