Bluebird at bonneville

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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:27 pm

I just thought I'd share this, seeing as I had the picture in the scanner. It comes from an old book my Father In Law was getting rid of in a housemove, The Life and Times of King George V, issued on his death, and containing a lot of photos taken during his life.

As the caption says, the scene is Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, 1935, where Sir Malcom Campbell is about to become the first person to drive at 300mph. Shocked

The car weighed 6 tons, and had a socking great aeroplane engine. The US airspeed record was only 4mph quicker at the time!

The reason I scanned the picture was to print it out, and put it on my living room wall, under a huge full size print of this picture, by the Scottish artist, Jack Vettriano. The original recently was sold at auction for �468,000.

While researching, I also found this photo. The painting has elements of my first photo, such as Mrs Campbell stood by the cockpit, and this one.

Also present that day was his 15 year old son, Donald. killed in 1967 trying to break one of his father's records on Lake Coniston, he and his boat (also called Bluebird) was recently found and raised from the lakebed. As a kid I had a not very tasteful 'flickbook' of the 300mph accident. It is now being painstakingly rebuilt LINK

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:34 pm

I remember watching Donald on the TV in B + W flipping over on Coniston. I was nine at the time.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 8:05 am

I remember when Donald Campbell was trying to set the World Speed Record at Lake Ayre, Australia. David Jones in downtown Sydney had both the Bluebirds on display, the boat and the car, and I can say that as a little boy I climbed under the ropes and gently - as I had an appreciation of beautiful machinery even then - touched them both on the nose.

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 8:39 pm

There are several articles in the latest HOT ROD magazine talking about land speed cars and such. Good read.