The 90th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird Land Speed Record

The anniversary of the Sir Malcolm Campbell’s historic breaking of the World Land Speed Record on Pendine Sands Carmarthenshire, the car will be driven by Sir Malcolm’s grandson, Don Wales, himself a Land Speed Record holder.

 

The Bluebird Sunbeam 350HP is an aero-engined car built by the Sunbeam company in 1920, the first of several land speed record-breaking cars with aircraft engines.

 

The Bluebird was taken to Pendine Sands in South Wales and saw a more successful result with the first of Campbell's nine records. The record was achieved on 24 September 1924, with a speed of 146.16 mph (235.23 km/h) and an officially sanctioned time. After this he put the car up for sale for £1,500, but decided to keep it for a further attempt on hearing that Parry-Thomas was also planning a record attempt with 'Babs'. Blue Bird returned to Pendine in 1925, and on 21 July it raised this record to 150.766 mph (242.628 km/h), the first time a car had exceeded 150 mph (240 km/h). The best run over the mile had reached 152.833 mph (245.961 km/h), a figure that appeared in contemporary motoring adverts for oil and spark plugs. To commemorate this achievement Campbell had commemorative models of Blue Bird made.

 

The other car featured Is the Napier-Railton an aero-engined racing car built in 1933, designed by Reid Railton to a commission by John Cobb, Between 1933 and 1937, the Napier-Railton broke 47 world speed records at Brooklands, Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry and Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.