A record is defined as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes").[2] Under current FIA rules, two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, over a timed mile and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated.[3] Records are set in either the flying kilometre or flying mile.[4] Motorcycle land speed racing requires 2 passes the same calendar day in opposite directions over a timed mile/kilo for AMA National Land Speed Records while FIM Land Speed World Records require two passes in opposite directions to be over a timed mile/kilo completed within 2 hours.[5]
The SCTA began hosting Speed Week at Bonneville in August 1949 (then called the Bonneville Nationals[6]), and have done so every year since, celebrating their seventy-fifth anniversary in 2023.[6] Top speed of the year earns an SCTA tropy; for the inaugural year, it went to Alex Xydias and Dean Batchelor for the So-Cal streamliner, with a speed of 193.54mph (311.47km/h).[6] Since then, the trophy has gone to Mickey Thompson, Art Arfons, the Summers Brothers, Don Vesco, Al Teague, and ten-time winner George Poteet, among others.[6] The 2023 trophy was awarded to Chris Raschke in Speed Demon (the team's eleventh win), with a pass of 333.35mph (536.47km/h).<[6]
Any vehicle – car, truck, or motorcycle – able to meet the class requirements and safety regulations has been able to make an attempt to break the existing record. For automobiles running under FIA sanctioning, the record is set by averaging two runs (commonly called "passes"), one in either direction, within the space of two hours.[7] All vehicles are separated by classes based on displacement. Vintage engines, like the Ford Flathead, Buick Straight Eight, Stovebolt engine and others are raced in the vintage classes.[citation needed] These consist of:
XF: Ford Flathead
XO: Overhead valve engines and non Ford flatheads built up to 1959.
XXF: Ford flatheads with overhead valve head conversions.
XXO: Overhead valve engines with specialist cylinder heads.
V4: Vintage four cylinder engines made before 1935. Overhead valve/Overhead cam conversions permitted.
V4F: Vintage flathead four cylinder engines built before 1935, valvetrain must remain a valve in block.
In 1906, Dorothy Levitt broke the women's world speed record for the flying kilometer, recording a speed of 91mph (146.25km/h) and receiving the sobriquet the "Fastest Girl on Earth". She drove a six-cylinder Napier motorcar, a 100hp (74.6kW) development of the K5, in a speed trial in Blackpool.[8][9][10]
In 1929, Frenchwoman Hellé Nice broke the female speed record. She reached 122.84mph (197.7km/h) in a Bugatti 35B on a 10km course on the Montlhery track outside Paris. The feat was so great that the newspapers at the time named her "Queen of Speed".[11]
A subsequent record was set by Lee Breedlove, the wife of Craig Breedlove, who piloted her husband's Spirit of America - Sonic 1 to a record of 308.506mph (496.492km/h) in 1965.[12] According to author Rachel Kushner, Craig Breedlove had talked Lee into taking 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.[13]
On August 20, 2019, 43 years later, American professional racer, television personality, and metal fabricator Jessi Combs attempted to break Kitty's long-standing world record at the age of 39 and at the same location. Combs died after her car suffered a mechanical failure on her second run from the opposite direction (used to establish an average to account for wind); the mechanical failure (located on the front wheel assembly) was speculated to have been caused by hitting an object in the desert. Despite dying during the execution of the run, her record attempt was eventually validated, and her new time was posthumously ratified by Guinness on 25 June 2020, ten months after the fatal attempt. Her time was recorded as 522.783mph (841.338km/h), which is more than 10mph faster than Kitty O'Neil's historic record.[citation needed]
There is no "wheel-driven" category as such.[17] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile validates records in a variety of classes, of which the "wheel-driven" classes are in Category A (Special cars) and Category B (Production cars). The accepted record is fastest average speed recorded over any one-mile or one-kilometer distance, averaged over two runs in opposite directions (to factor out wind) within one hour of each other. The most recent wheel-driven record holders have been from a variety of different classes within Category A.[18]
Burkland's 411 Streamliner, driven by Tom Burkland on the Bonneville Salt Flats, holds the current piston-engined wheel-driven land speed record
In 2008 Tom Burkland broke the piston-engined wheel-driven record for the flying mile, recording a speed of 415.896mph (669.320km/h). He drove the Burkland family streamliner powered by two 450+ cubic inch-displacement supercharged Donovan engines (bought second-hand), with crankshafts bolted together nose-to-nose, running on methanol.[19][20]
In September, 2010 George Poteet made an attempt to break the piston-engined wheel-driven record for the flying mile and flying kilometer. His car, Speed Demon, built by Ron Main, is powered by a 299cuin (4,900cc) aluminum block 'Hellfire' V8, built by Kenny Duttweiler.[21] Their effort was thwarted by a number of parts failures. The team stated their intention to return in 2011 to set a record over 450mph (724km/h), and at the 2011 Bonneville Speed Week, Poteet achieved 426mph (686km/h)[22]
In 2012, the Target 550 team of Marlo Treit and Les Davenport planned to raise the record for this class to more than 500mph (800km/h) in Viking 31, built by Jim Hume. Powered by two Dodge hemis with Whipple supercharger, it has a frontal area of 8.61sqft (0.800m2) and is more than 40ft (12m) long. The model was tested in the Western Washington Universitywind tunnel, with assistance from Michael Seal.[23]
In 2018 the Flashpoint Streamliner exceeded the record but was disqualified after being destroyed on its second pass, as two full successful passes are required to set a record. The car reached 436 and 451mph on each pass, but was destroyed on the second pass as a result of a tire failure.[24]
Speed Record Club - The Speed Record Club seeks to promote an informed and educated enthusiast identity, reporting accurately and impartially to the best of its ability on record-breaking engineering, events, attempts and history.
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, both bodies recognise as 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 in either class JE or class RT.
Craig Breedlove was an American professional race car driver and a five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first person in history to reach 500 mph (800 km/h), and 600 mph (970 km/h), using several turbojet-powered vehicles, all named Spirit of America.
Spirit of America is the trademarked name used by Craig Breedlove for his land speed record-setting vehicles.
The Green Monster was the name of several vehicles built by Art Arfons and his half-brother Walt Arfons. These ranged from dragsters to a turbojet-powered car that briefly held the land speed record three times during 1964 and 1965.
The Ford flathead V8 is a V8 engine with a flat cylinder head introduced by the Ford Motor Company in 1932 and built by Ford through 1953. During the engine's first decade of production, when overhead-valve engines were used by only a small minority of makes, it was usually known simply as the Ford V‑8, and the first car model in which it was installed, the Model 18, was often called simply the "Ford V-8" after its new engine. An automotive milestone as the first affordable V8, it ranks as one of the company's most important developments. The engine was intended to be used for big passenger cars and trucks; it was installed in such until 1953, making the engine's 21-year production run for the U.S. consumer market longer than the 19-year run of the Ford Model T engine. It was also built independently by Ford licensees.. The engine was named on Ward's list of the 10 best engines of the 20th century. It was a staple of hot rodders in the 1950s, and it remains famous in the classic car hobbies even today, despite the huge variety of other popular V8s that followed.
Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats northeast of Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. The Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Wingfoot Express was Walt Arfons and Tom Green's jet-powered land speed record car, driven by Green to a record on October 2, 1964, after Walt suffered a heart attack just prior. The Express was powered by a Westinghouse J46 engine and hit the 413 mph record mark.
The Buckeye Bullet is a series of four experimental electric cars created by students from Ohio State University as a joint project with Venturi. The cars were designed to break the land speed record on the Bonneville Speedway, a salt flat just outside Wendover, Utah, United States. The team first achieved its goal in October 2004, at 271.737 mph (437.318 km/h) for the one mile world record, repeatedly increasing the record until setting a mile world record of 307.666 mph (495.140 km/h), in 2009, and a one kilometer world record of 341.264 mph (549.211 km/h), in 2016.
The Renault Étoile Filante was Renault's only attempt at both creating a gas turbine-powered car and setting a land speed record for such cars.
The JCB Dieselmax is a streamliner car designed for the purpose of breaking the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle.
Production vehicles or production cars are mass-produced models of automobiles offered for sale to the public and can be legally driven on public roads. Legislation and other industrial rules define the production vehicle within particular countries or uses. There is no single fixed global definition of the term.
The motorcycle land-speed record is the fastest speed achieved by a motorcycle on land. It is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions. AMA National Land Speed Records requires two passes the same calendar day in opposite directions over a timed mile/kilometre while FIM Land Speed World Records require two passes in opposite directions to be over a timed mile/kilometre completed within two hours. These are special or modified motorcycles, distinct from the fastest production motorcycles. The first official FIM record was set in 1920, when Gene Walker rode an Indian on Daytona Beach at 104.12 mph (167.56 km/h). Since late 2010, the Ack Attack team has held the motorcycle land speed record at 376.36 mph (605.69 km/h).
Charlie Nearburg is a race car driver who broke the wheel-driven land speed record in 2010.
Mike Nish was an American racing driver who competed in the CART Championship Car series and competed in world land speed record events.
The Bluebird-Proteus CN7 is a gas turbine-powered vehicle that was driven by Donald Campbell and achieved the world land speed record on Lake Eyre in Australia on 17 July 1964. The vehicle set the FIA world record for the flying mile at 403.1 mph (648.7 km/h).
Tom Green worked with Walt Arfons to design and drive the Wingfoot Express, a jet-powered land speed record car. Green drove the car to a world record speed 413.20 mph (664.98 km/h) on October 2, 1964. Green's world record is often forgotten, as the mark was eclipsed three times in less than two weeks, including the first to break the 500 mph (800 km/h) threshold.
Project '64 is the name of the attempt to break the car land speed record for vehicles with an engine capacity of between 751 cc and 1000 cc in a 1964 Mk1 Mini Cooper 970 S. The Project '64 team was successful in 2012, setting a record of 146.595 mph (235.922 km/h) at the SCTA Speed Week at Bonneville Salt Flats. The Project '64 team had planned to attempt to raise the record in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 their car was not complete in time to ship to Bonneville due to delays manufacturing specialist engine components and in 2015 Speed Week was cancelled due to poor track conditions. They now intend to compete at Speed Week 2016.
An aero-engined car is an automobile powered by an engine designed for aircraft use. Most such cars have been built for racing, and many have attempted to set world land speed records. While the practice of fitting cars with aircraft engines predates World War I by a few years, it was most popular in the interwar period between the world wars when military-surplus aircraft engines were readily available and used to power numerous high-performance racing cars. Initially powered by piston aircraft engines, a number of post-World War II aero-engined cars have been powered by aviation turbine and jet engines instead. Piston-engined, turbine-engined, and jet-engined cars have all set world land speed records. There have also been some non-racing automotive applications for aircraft engines, including production vehicles such as the Tucker 48 and prototypes such as the Chrysler Turbine Car, Fiat Turbina, and General Motors Firebirds. In the late 20th century and into the 21st century, there has also been a revival of interest in piston-powered aero-engined racing cars.
The Spirit of Rett is a streamlined car designed to challenge the wheel-driven land speed record. On September 21, 2010 it made two speed runs piloted by Charlie Nearburg at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The first run averaged 417.0 mph (671.1 km/h) with an exit speed of 422.6 mph (680.1 km/h). The return run, made under more difficult track conditions, averaged 411.7 mph (662.6 km/h) with a top speed of 417.65 mph (672.14 km/h). The average speed of approximately 414.4 mph (666.9 km/h) exceeded the 45 year old Summers brothers’ Goldenrod record. The “Spirit of Rett” now has the fastest single engine car record in history.
Speed Demon is a land speed racing car built in 2010 by Ron Main for George Poteet.
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