Sir Malcolm Campbell poses for the cameras in front of his new Bluebird racing car at the Brooklands race track, 1935.
"It was just over 80 years ago to the day that Sir Malcolm Campbell drove his beloved car known as Blue Bird straight into the record books. He became the first human being to reach 300mph behind the wheel of an automobile, that is if you want to consider the Blue Bird an automobile. This old girl was built with one thing in mind, speed and a whole lot of it."
"He christened his car Blue Bird, painting it blue, after seeing the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck at the Haymarket Theatre". "He set his final land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on 3 September 1935, and was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph, averaging 301.337 mph (484.955 km/h) in two passes."
Sir Malcolm Campbell (bio) MBE Circa 1935 Campbell died after a series of strokes in 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, aged 63. He was one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, for so many had died in crashes. Campbell's grave at St Nicholas' Church in Chislehurst
Bluebird, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA, 1935. UNITED STATES - AUGUST 06: Snapshot photograph of Sir Malcolm Campbell's (1885-1948) car 'Bluebird'. All Campbell's racing cars and boats were painted blue and named 'Bluebird'. This was the second car to be so named. It had already set a number of land speed records at Daytona, Florida, before refitting with a Rolls Royce R-type 2500 hp engine. Campbell drove the car at Bonneville to set a new land speed record of 301.13 mph on 3 September 1935. Campbell developed a passion for speed at an early age. He began racing bicycles before moving on to successfully race motorbikes, cars, aeroplanes and speedboats. He set a number of land speed records in the 1920s and 1930s. His son Donald became the first person to establish both land and water speed records in the same year. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)
I recall all those cars running on the Bonneville Salt Flats when I was a kid, all going for the world land speed record. I wonder why that stopped. Don't tell me a family of endangered burrowing owls moved in.
The Green Monster There was an interesting period in 1964-1965 where Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove traded the land speed title back and forth several times. Both of them had accidents which destroyed their cars. Art Arfons (1926-2007) Arfons had a shop in his father's feed mill about a half mile, as the crow flies, behind the house where I grew up. He would tie his engines between two trees to test them. It was very loud even at our house. I guess he kept that shop until he died. I figured they moved out as soon as he got serious. The mill is gone now. All of Arfons' cars were called Green Monsters. I think there were at least a dozen versions. Later he started designing jet powered tractors, for tractor pull competitions. Still called the tractors Green Monsters.
I think the cost to push the speed much faster became prohibitive due to the engines required. You needed sponsors. Maybe people are more interested in space now. When I found this thread I got sidetracked learning more about Art Arfons. It's interesting that his car only cost $10,000 (including $5000 for a jet engine) while Breedlove's cost $250,000. This video explains how cheaply he made his cars. It's rather long (15 mins) and has a promotional tone.
Nope. I think my mother knew Art's older half-brother Walt, but not that well. We all would have gone to the same schools but non-overlapping time periods. Maybe they were all too busy tinkering with cars. .