26-485: The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell . Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic Leo Villa supervised its construction. This was Campbell's first car to use the Napier Lion aero engine. His intention was to surpass his previous Sunbeam Blue Bird 's achievement of the 150 mph barrier and to reach 200 mph. When first built,
52-414: A hump around the cockpit where Campbell now sat astride the gearbox. The surface radiators were replaced by a conventional circular nose opening, covered by a distinctive "birdcage" grille. Unfortunately, after a period of five years of no rainfall, it poured down almost as soon as they arrived. Campbell returned to Cape Town, where on his 44th birthday he learnt that Henry Segrave at Daytona Beach had set
78-514: A new record in Golden Arrow at 231.44 mph (372.47 km/h). Blue Bird was unable to match this at the African altitude and climate, but he made the best use of the long course and set the world 5 mile and 10 mile records at 212 mph (341 km/h). After Segrave had raised the record in Golden Arrow by a whole 30 mph (48 km/h) though, Campbell knew that Blue Bird
104-590: A site 600 miles from Timbuktu and so impractically inaccessible. A dry lake bed in South Africa, the Verneukpan , was still 450 miles (720 km) from Cape Town , but did have some chance of access. Blue Bird was rebuilt for a third time. The chassis, engine and drivetrain remained the same, but the bodywork was replaced with one built in Dumfries by Arrol-Aster . This body was lower, requiring
130-565: A speed of 403.10 miles per hour (648.73 km/h) on Lake Eyre , Australia. This became the official FIA LSR, although Campbell was disappointed not to have beaten Breedlove's time. In October, several four-wheel jet-cars surpassed the 1963 mark, but were eligible for neither FIA nor FIM ratification. The confusion of having three different LSRs lasted until December 11, 1964, when the FIA and FIM met in Paris and agreed to recognize as an absolute LSR
156-582: A two-way average of 446.63 km/h (277.52 mph) in September 1965. Five weeks later, Goodyear hit back against Firestone with Lee Breedlove . While recordkeeping has not been as extensive, a report in 1974 confirmed that a record was held by Lee Breedlove, the wife of then overall record holder Craig Breedlove , who piloted her husband's Spirit of America – Sonic I to a record 496.492 km/h (308.506 mph) in 1965. According to author Rachel Kushner , Craig Breedlove had talked Lee into taking
182-665: A vehicle of the North American Eagle Project running at the Alvord Desert, raised the women's four-wheel land speed class record with an official run of 632.40 km/h (392.954 mph), surpassing Breedlove's 48-year-old record. Combs continued with the North American Eagle Project, whose ongoing target is the overall land speed record; as part of that effort, Combs was killed, on August 27, 2019, during an attempt to raise
208-523: A whale. Following Segrave to Daytona Beach , on 19 February 1928 Campbell took the record at 206.956 mph (333.063 km/h), breaking the 200 mph barrier for his first time. Once again though he only held the record for a couple of months, losing it by a whisker to Ray Keech and the White Triplex . Campbell sought a more predictable venue than a tidal beach, so he set off to survey possible sites by air. Africa showed promise, first at
234-515: Is standardized over a course measuring either 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) or 1 mile (1.6 km), averaged over two runs with flying start (commonly called "passes") going in opposite directions within one hour. A new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated. Until 1829 the fastest land transport was by horse. The first regulator was the Automobile Club de France , which proclaimed itself arbiter of
260-605: The Air Ministry to allow him a Schneider Trophy -tuned "Sprint" engine, as fitted to the Supermarine S.5 seaplane, of 900 hp (670 kW). Improved aerodynamics were innovatively tested in Vickers ' wind-tunnel by R.K. Pierson , their Chief Designer. Blue Bird’s body shape was substantially changed, with the famous coachbuilders Mulliner producing the bodywork. The results were unorthodox. A vertical tail fin
286-402: The FIA and other car-racing organisations, Guinness World Records does recognize gender-based land speed records. In 1906, Dorothy Levitt broke the women's world speed record for the flying kilometer, recording a speed of 154 km/h (96 mph) and receiving the sobriquet the "Fastest Girl on Earth". She drove a six-cylinder Napier motorcar , a 75 kW (100 hp) development of
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#1732779956209312-478: The FIA in 1947. Controversy arose in 1963: Spirit of America was not recognized due to its being a three-wheeler (leading the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme to certify it as a three-wheel motorcycle record when the FIA refused) and not wheel-driven so the FIA introduced a special jet and rocket propelled class . No holder of the absolute record since has been wheel-driven. In
338-798: The K5, in a speed trial in Blackpool . in 1963, Paula Murphy drove a Studebaker Avanti to 262 km/h (163 mph) at the Bonneville Salt Flats as part of Andy Granatelli 's attempt on the overall record. In 1964, she was asked by the tire company Goodyear to try to improve her own record, which she raised to 364.31 km/h (226.37 mph) in Walt Arfons 's jet dragster Avenger . The rival tire company Firestone and Art Arfons hit back against Goodyear and Walt Arfons when Betty Skelton drove Art's Cyclops to achieve
364-472: The U.S. and Australia, record runs are often done on salt flats , so the cars are often called salt cars. The FIA does not recognize separate men's and women's land speed records, because the records are set using motorized vehicles , and not muscle-powered vehicles , so the gender of the driver does not matter; however, unofficial women's records have long been claimed, seemingly starting with Dorothy Levitt 's 1906 record in Blackpool , England, and, unlike
390-495: The absolute LSR whatever is the highest speed record achieved across any of their various categories. While the three-wheeled Spirit of America set an FIM-validated LSR in 1963, all subsequent LSRs are by vehicles in FIA Category C ("Special Vehicles") in either class JE (jet engine) or class RT (rocket powered). FIA LSRs are officiated and validated by its regional or national affiliate organizations. Speed measurement
416-561: The car out for a record attempt in order to monopolize the salt flats for the day and block one of his competitors from making a record attempt. In 1976, the women's absolute record was set by Kitty O'Neil , in the jet-powered, three-wheeled SMI Motivator , at the Alvord Desert . Held back by her contract with a sponsor and using only 60 percent of her car's power, O'Neil reached an average speed of 825.127 km/h (512.710 mph). On October 9, 2013, driver Jessi Combs , in
442-452: The car used a Napier Lion engine of around 500 bhp. It was of conventional form with a front-mounted vertical radiator and the driver behind the engine. The three banks of the W-12 engine were hidden behind bulges in the narrow bonnet, with exhaust stub pipes protruding. Bluebird's first record attempt was on 4 February 1927 at Pendine Sands . A peak speed of 195 mph (314 km/h)
468-593: The four-wheel record. In late June 2020, the Guinness Book of Records reclassified the August 27, 2019 speed runs as meeting its requirements, and Combs was posthumously credited with the record at 841.338 km/h (522.783 mph), noting she was the first to break the record in 40 years. Craig Breedlove 's mark of 407.447 miles per hour (655.722 km/h), set in Spirit of America in September 1963,
494-434: The higher speed recorded by either body, by any vehicles running on wheels, whether wheel-driven or not. Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird The Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell . After Henry Segrave 's Golden Arrow , clearly a more powerful engine was required for Blue Bird , with a chassis and transmission to handle it. A supercharged Napier Lion VIID
520-732: The record in about 1902. Different clubs had different standards and did not always recognize the same world records until 1924, when the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) introduced new regulations: two passes in opposite directions (to negate the effects of wind) averaged with a maximum of 30 minutes (later more) between runs, average gradient of the racing surface not more than 1 percent, timing gear accurate within 0.01sec, and cars must be wheel-driven . National or regional auto clubs (such as AAA and SCTA ) had to be AIACR members to ensure records would be recognized. The AIACR became
546-407: Was achieved, tantalisingly close to the magic 200 mph (320 km/h), but the two-way average recorded for the record was lower, at 174.883 mph (281.45 km/h). The 1927 record was short-lived, as Segrave 's Sunbeam 1000 hp achieved both the 180 mph and 200 mph targets a month later. This prompted Campbell to rebuild the car as "Blue Bird III" for 1928. He persuaded
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#1732779956209572-469: Was added for stability, a first for Blue Bird and land speed record cars. Open spats behind the wheels also reduced drag. The biggest change was to the radiators, which were moved to the rear of the car and mounted externally. These surface radiators were made by Fairey Aviation and contained 2,400 ft (730 m) of tube. Removing the nose radiator allowed a low, rounded nose with better streamlining. However, one French newspaper compared its looks to
598-478: Was also used, a first for Campbell. Campbell's nemesis Segrave was killed in an attempt on the water speed record while Campbell was scouting for new record courses in South Africa. On his return, Campbell set off for Daytona with the new Blue Bird , concerned at American challenges to the record. Segrave had, after all, at least been British. On 5 February 1931 he pushed the record to 246 mph (396 km/h), to great popular acclaim. On his return he learned he
624-588: Was beaten and began work on a new car, the Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird . Land speed record The land speed record ( LSR ) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), respective governing bodies for racing in automobiles and motorcycles (two or three wheels), both bodies recognise as
650-439: Was initially considered unofficial. The vehicle breached the FIA regulations on two grounds: it had only three wheels, and it was not wheel-driven , since its jet engine did not supply power to its axles. Some time later, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) created a non-wheel-driven category, and ratified Spirit of America ' s time for this mark. On July 17, 1964, Donald Campbell 's Bluebird CN7 posted
676-448: Was used, with over three times the power of the previous Blue Bird and a large premium over Golden Arrow 's unsupercharged 900 hp (670 kW) Lion VIIA. This was not the first use of supercharging for Land Speed Record cars , but was the first combining supercharging with the large displacement aero engines that had previously been relied upon for their gross output. Golden Arrow 's innovative vertical aerodynamic stabilising fin
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