![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/ThrustSSC.jpg/220px-ThrustSSC.jpg)
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 the absolute LSR whatever is the highest speed record achieved across any of their various categories.[1] 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).[2][3]
FIA LSRs are officiated and validated by its regional or national affiliate organizations.[4] Speed measurement 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")[5] going in opposite directions within one hour. A new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated.[6]
History
Until 1829 the fastest land transport was horses. The first regulator was the Automobile Club de France, which proclaimed itself arbiter of the record in about 1902.[7]
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Different clubs had different standards and did not always recognize the same world records[8] 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.[9] National or regional auto clubs (such as AAA and SCTA) had to be AIACR members to ensure records would be recognized.[10] The AIACR became 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.[11] No holder of the absolute record since has been wheel-driven.
In the U.S. and Australia, record runs are often done on salt flats, so the cars are often called salt cars.[citation needed]
Women's land speed record
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Miss_Dorothy_Levitt%2C_in_a_26hp_Napier%2C_Brooklands%2C_1908.jpg/220px-Miss_Dorothy_Levitt%2C_in_a_26hp_Napier%2C_Brooklands%2C_1908.jpg)
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 the FIA and other car-racing organisations, Guinness World Records does recognize gender-based land speed records.[12]
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 the K5, in a speed trial in Blackpool.[13][14][15]
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.[12] 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.[12][16] The rival tire company Firestone and Art Arfons hit back against Goodyear and Walt Arfons when Betty Skelton drove Art's Cyclops to achieve a two-way average of 446.63 km/h (277.52 mph) in September 1965.[12]
Five weeks later, Goodyear hit back against Firestone with Lee Breedlove.[12] 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.[17] 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.[18]
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.[19] 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).[20][21]
On October 9, 2013, driver Jessi Combs, in 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.[22] 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 the four-wheel record.[23] 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.[24]
Records
1898–1964 (wheel-driven)
Date | Location | Driver | Vehicle | Power | Speed | Comments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Over 1 km | Over 1 mile | ||||||||
(mph) | (km/h) | (mph) | (km/h) | ||||||
December 18, 1898 | ![]() |
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Jeantaud Duc[25] | Electric | 39.24 | 63.15 | [26] Conducted over 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from a flying start.[27] | ||
January 17, 1899 | ![]() |
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GCA Dogcart | Electric | 41.42 | 66.66 | [26] | ||
January 17, 1899 | ![]() |
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Jeantaud Duc | Electric | 43.93 | 70.31 | [26] | ||
January 27, 1899 | ![]() |
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GCA Dogcart | Electric | 49.93 | 80.35 | [26] | ||
March 4, 1899 | ![]() |
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Jeantaud Duc Profilée | Electric | 57.65 | 92.78 | [26] | ||
April 29, 1899 | ![]() |
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CITA No 25 La Jamais Contente | Electric | 65.79 | 105.88 | First purpose-designed land speed racer[28] First record over 100 km/h (62 mph)[26] | ||
April 13, 1902 | ![]() |
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Gardner-Serpollet Œuf de Pâques (Easter Egg) |
Steam[7] | 75.06 | 120.80 | |||
August 5, 1902 | ![]() |
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Mors Z Paris-Vienne | Internal combustion | 76.03 | 122.438 | First internal combustion powered record[7] | ||
November 5, 1902 | ![]() |
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Mors Z Paris-Vienne | Internal combustion V4, 9.2-litre, 60 bhp |
76.59 | 123.25 | [29] | ||
November 17, 1902 | ![]() |
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Mors Z Paris-Vienne | Internal combustion | 77.13 | 124.13 | [26] | ||
July 17, 1903 | ![]() |
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Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid | Internal combustion | 83.46 | 132.32 | [26] | ||
November 5, 1903 | ![]() |
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Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid | Internal combustion | 84.73 | 136.35 | [29] | ||
January 12, 1904 | ![]() |
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Ford 999 Racer | Internal combustion | 91.37 | 147.05 | [30] | ||
March 31, 1904 | ![]() |
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Gobron-Brillié Paris-Madrid | Internal combustion | 94.78 | 152.53 | [26] | ||
May 25, 1904 | ![]() |
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Mercedes Simplex 90 | Internal combustion | 97.25 | 156.50 | [26] | ||
July 21, 1904[29] | ![]() |
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Gobron-Brillié Gordon Bennett | Internal combustion | 103.56 | 166.66 | First record over 100 mph (161 km/h),[26] 2 months after City of Truro's. | ||
November 13, 1904 | ![]() |
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Darracq Gordon Bennett | Internal combustion | 104.53 | 168.22 | [26] | ||
December 30, 1905 | ![]() |
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Darracq Special | Internal combustion | 109.59 | 176.37 | [26] | ||
January 26, 1906 | ![]() |
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Stanley Rocket[9] | Steam | 127.66 | 205.44 | First record over 200 km/h (124 mph). First faster than contemporary rail speed record. Fastest steam-powered land vehicle until 2009.[31] | ||
November 8, 1909[32] | ![]() |
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Benz No. 1 200 hp (150 kW) |
Internal combustion: 21.5 L (1,310 cu in) inline-4 Benz engine |
125.94 | 202.68 | 115.93 | 186.57 | First run using electronic timing[9] |
June 24, 1914 | ![]() |
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Benz No. 3 200 hp (150 kW) |
Internal combustion: 21.5 L (1,310 cu in) inline-4 Benz engine |
— | 124.09 | 199.70 | First 2-way record, set at Brooklands under new Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) 2-way rule[9] | |
May 17, 1922 | ![]() |
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Sunbeam 350HP | V12, single ohc, 18.3 litre, 350 b.h.p. engine |
133.75 | 215.25 | The third and last time the record was set at Brooklands[29] | ||
July 6, 1924 | ![]() |
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Délage | Internal combustion, V12, ohv, 10.6 litre, 280 bhp engine | 143.31 | 230.634 | [29] | ||
July 12, 1924 | ![]() |
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FIAT Mephistopheles | Internal combustion: 21.7 L (1,320 cu in) inline-6 FIAT A.12 aero engine |
— | 145.89 | 234.98 | Fastest land speed record ever on a public road[9] | |
September 25, 1924 | ![]() |
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Sunbeam 350HP | Internal combustion: 18.3 L (1,120 cu in) V12 Sunbeam aero engine |
— | 146.16 | 235.22 | First land speed record by Malcolm Campbell[33] | |
July 21, 1925 | ![]() |
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Sunbeam 350HP | Internal combustion: 18.3 L (1,120 cu in) V12 Sunbeam aero engine |
— | 150.87 | 242.8 | First person to travel on land at over 150 mph (241 km/h)[33] | |
March 16, 1926 | ![]() |
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Ladybird | Internal combustion: a 4-litre Sunbeam Tiger |
152.33 | 245.15 | |||
April 27, 1926 | ![]() |
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Babs | Internal combustion: 27 L (1,600 cu in) V12 Liberty L-12 aero engine |
169.29 | 270.864 | 168.74 | 269.984 | [34] |
April 28, 1926 | ![]() |
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Babs | Internal combustion: 27 L (1,600 cu in) V12 Liberty L-12 aero engine |
172.09 | 275.341 | 171.69 | 274.590 | [35] |
February 4, 1927 | ![]() |
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Napier-Campbell Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 22.3 L (1,360 cu in) W12 Napier Lion aero engine |
— | 174.88 | 281.44 | [33] | |
March 29, 1927 | ![]() |
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Mystery (aka "Sunbeam 1000 hp") |
Internal combustion: 2 × 22.4 L (1,370 cu in) V12 Sunbeam Matabele aero engines |
203.79 | 327.97 | The first car to reach a speed over 200 mph (320 km/h)[36] | ||
February 19, 1928 | ![]() |
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Napier-Campbell Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion aero engine |
206.956 | 333.048 | [10] | ||
April 22, 1928 | ![]() |
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Triplex Special | Internal combustion: 3 × 27 L (1,600 cu in) V12 Liberty L-12 aero engines |
207.552 | 334.007 | [37] | ||
March 11, 1929 | ![]() |
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Golden Arrow | Internal combustion: 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion aero engine |
231.446 | 372.459 | Segrave was knighted for this effort[38] | ||
February 5, 1931 | ![]() |
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Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion supercharged aero engine |
246.09 | 396.025 | Campbell was knighted for this effort[38] | ||
February 24, 1932 | ![]() |
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Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion supercharged aero engine |
253.97 | 408.73 | First 250 mph (400 km/h) pass.[33] | ||
February 22, 1933 | ![]() |
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Campbell-Railton Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engine |
272.46 | 438.48 | [33] | ||
March 7, 1935 | ![]() |
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Campbell-Railton Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engine |
276.816 | 445.472 | [38] | ||
September 3, 1935 | ![]() |
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Campbell-Railton Blue Bird | Internal combustion: 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engine |
301.129 | 484.598 | First 300 mph (480 km/h) pass, first absolute record set at Bonneville[38] | ||
November 19, 1937 | ![]() |
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Thunderbolt | Internal combustion: 2 × 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engines |
311.42 | 501.16 | [38] | ||
August 27, 1938 | ![]() |
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Thunderbolt | Internal combustion: 2 × 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engines |
345.49 [38] | 556.012 | |||
September 15, 1938 | ![]() |
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Railton | Internal combustion: 2 × 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion supercharged aero engines |
350.2 | 563.566 | [38] | ||
September 16, 1938 | ![]() |
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Thunderbolt | Internal combustion: 2 × 36.7 L (2,240 cu in) V12 Rolls-Royce R supercharged aero engines |
357.5 | 575.314 | [38] | ||
August 23, 1939 | ![]() |
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Railton Special | Internal combustion: 2 × 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion supercharged aero engines |
369.74 [38] | 595.04 | 367.91 | 592.091 | |
September 16, 1947 | ![]() |
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Railton Mobil Special | Internal combustion: 2 × 23.9 L (1,460 cu in) W12 Napier Lion supercharged aero engines |
394.196 [9] | 634.397 | 394.19 | 634.39 | First single pass at over 400 mph (402 mph) |
July 17, 1964 | ![]() |
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Bluebird CN7 | Turboshaft: 1 × 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) Bristol Proteus gas turbine | 403.10 [39][40] | 648.73 | Last wheel driven absolute record. |
1963–present (jet and rocket propulsion)
Craig Breedlove's mark of 407.447 miles per hour (655.722 km/h),[11][41] set in Spirit of America in September 1963, 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.[11] On July 17, 1964, Donald Campbell's Bluebird CN7 posted 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.[42] In October, several four-wheel jet-cars surpassed the 1963 mark, but were eligible for neither FIA nor FIM ratification.[42] 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 the higher speed recorded by either body, by any vehicles running on wheels, whether wheel-driven or not.[1]
See also
- List of vehicle speed records
- British land speed record
- Production car speed record
- Railway speed record
- Motorcycle land speed record
- Aero-engined car
- Pioneer 2M – Soviet Union attempt at the land speed record in early 1960s
- Budweiser Rocket – Claimed but not verified to have reached 739.666 miles per hour (1,190.377 km/h) and to have broken the sound barrier in 1979
- North American Eagle Project – Aiming for 808 mph (1,300 km/h), the project was abandoned after one of its drivers was killed in the car.
- Bloodhound LSR – Project aiming for 1,050 mph (1,690 km/h).
- Rosco McGlashan – Australia's fastest man on the land. His Aussie Invader team is building a fully rocket-powered LSR car with an attempt at the record currently on hold pending funding.[46]
References
- ^ a b "Land Speed Record Agreement". The Times. No. 56193. December 12, 1964. p. 7, col E.
- ^ "List Of FIA Absolute World Records" (PDF). FIA. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
- ^ "Official List Of World Speed Records Homologated By The FIA In Category C" (PDF). FIA. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
- ^ "FIA land speed records". FIA. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
- ^ Regulations for Record Attempts – CHAPTER 2 Archived November 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine – FIA
- ^ "§105. Conditions for the recognition of international or world records". Sporting Code: Chapter 7: Records. FIA. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
- ^ a b c Northey, Tom (1974). "Land Speed Record: The Fastest Men on Earth". In Ian Ward (ed.). World of Automobiles. Vol. 10. London: Orbis. p. 1162.
- ^ Martin, James A.; Saal, Thomas F. (2004). "Ch 17: Land Speed Record to 1939". American Auto Racing: The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed. McFarland. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7864-1235-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Northey, p.1163.
- ^ a b Northey, p.1164.
- ^ a b c d e f Northey, p.1166.
- ^ a b c d e Strohl, Daniel (September 26, 2019). "What exactly is the women's world land-speed record?". Hemmings. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
... the Fédération Internationale de L'Automobile, which oversees world land-speed record attempts, doesn't recognize separate men's and women's records. ... The Guinness Book of World Records – to which the North American Eagle team submitted Combs's data – appears to be the only record-keeping entity that does recognize gender-separated land-speed records ... The idea of creating a separate, though unofficial, category for women's land-speed records likely originated with Levitt ... Goodyear and Firestone didn't place Murphy, Skelton, and Lee Breedlove in those cars to empower women; they did it instead to market to women ... That the women's land-speed record does not officially exist may be a relic of less enlightened times when men believed women to be inferior and incapable of handling an automobile, but it may also, ironically, serve the interests of gender equality.
- ^ Hull, Peter G. "Napier: The Stradivarius of the Road", in Northey, Tom, ed. The World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 13, p.1483.
- ^ G.N. Georgano Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985).
- ^ "Women in Motorsport – Timeline". Btinternet.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
- ^ Samuel Hawley (2011). Speed Duel: The Inside Story of the Land Speed Record in the Sixties. Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1-77088-007-8.
- ^ Twite, Mike (1974), "Breedlove: Towards the sound barrier", World of Automobiles, Orbis Publishing, 2: 231
- ^ "Knowingly Navigating the Unknown Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine", Maria Russo, The New York Times, May 7, 2013
- ^ Ellen Jares, Sue. "The Renaissance Woman of Danger—That's Tiny Kitty O'Neil". People. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
- ^ Phinizy, Coles. "A Rocket Ride To Glory And Gloom". SI Vault. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Deaf stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil sets women's land-speed record". History. Archived from the original on June 13, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
- ^ "Female land speed record broken by Jessi Combs after 48 years". SlashGear. October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- ^ Asmelash, Leah (August 28, 2019). "Race car driver Jessi Combs, known as the 'fastest woman on four wheels,' dies while trying to beat record". CNN. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- ^ "American jet-car racer and Mythbusters host Jessi Combs posthumously awarded world land-speed record for a woman". US: ABC/AP. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Northey, p.1161.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Fowler, Dave (2019). "Land Speed Record Holders Timeline". Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ Ross, Frank (1976). Car racing against the clock : the story of the world land speed record. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-0-688-41743-7.
- ^ Nagy, Attila (July 18, 2014). "The Blazing Fast Evolution Of Land Speed Record Cars". Gizmodo. Australia. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Posthumus, Cyril. Land Speed Record: A complete history of the record-breaking cars from 39 to 600+ mph (Osprey Publishing, Reading, 1971)
- ^ Cars Against the Clock, The World Land Speed Record, Robert B. Jackson (New York, Henry Z. Walck, Inc.), p.19, ISBN 0-8098-2078-1
- ^ [1] Archived July 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine – The British Steam Car Challenge
- ^ Seherr-Thoss (October 1987). "History of Automobile World Records". FIA.
- ^ a b c d e Scott A. G. M. Crawford, "Campbell, Sir Malcolm (1885–1948)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 accessed 20 April 2013 Archived October 22, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Hier, sur la plage de Pendine, l'Anglais J. P. Thomas a atteint la formidable vitesse de 277 kil. à l'heure!". L'Auto: 1. April 28, 1926 – via BnF/Gallica.
- ^ "A nouveau, J. P. Thomas a battu hier les records du monde du mille et du kilomètre qu'il s'était appropriés la veille!". L'Auto: 1. April 29, 1926 – via BnF/Gallica.
- ^ Holthusen, Peter J.R. (1986). The Land Speed Record ISBN 0-85429-499-6
- ^ Northey, Tom (1974). "Land Speed Record: The Fastest Men on Earth". In Tom Northey. World of Automobiles. Vol. 10 (London: Orbis), pp.1164–5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Northey, p.1165.
- ^ "Proteus Bluebird CN7". The National Motor Museum Trust. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- ^ "Bluebird CN7 – Donald Campbell". Land Speed Record. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- ^ a b Twite, Mike. "Craig Breedlove: Toward the Sound Barrier", in World of Automobiles (Volume 2, p.231).
- ^ a b "Land Speed Record History | Bloodhound SSC Risbridger". Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
- ^ Cars Against the Clock, The Fastest Men on Earth, Clifton, Paul, New York, The John Day Company, page 238, L.C. 66-15097
- ^ a b c "FIA land speed records, Cat C" (PDF). FIA. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ "Introduction". FIA. Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- ^ "June 2016 Newsletter". Retrieved July 4, 2016.
External links
- Autoracing Speed Records at Curlie
- Aussie Invader official website – Australian challengers to the supersonic showdown
- 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 in the Sixties: an on-line collection