Land Speed Record

Land Speed Record, world speed record set on land by a powered vehicle. The record is measured over a mile, but the course needs to be covered twice and the average time is taken to set a record. Both runs need to be completed within an hour.

Famous record-holders have included Sir Malcolm Campbell, Ernest Eldridge, Sir Henry Segrave, Frank Lockhart in the 1920 and 1930s and John Cobb, Donald Campbell, and George Eyston immediately after World War II. Until this stage the vehicles had been wheel-driven, but by the 1950s controversy was raging over the onset of jet-powered cars, most notably pioneered by American Craig Breedlove, who continued to advance the record in his Spirit of America vehicle. To accommodate faster speeds the record-breaking, which had started off on race tracks such as Brooklands in Britain, moved on to beaches—Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire and Daytona Beach, Florida—before relocating to salt flats. The most famous venues are Bonneville in Utah, and Black Rock, Nevada, both in the United States

The current holder of the world record is Andy Green in Thrust SSC, who broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.007 with 763.035 mph (1,227.952 km/h) in October 1997. Green was part of the team led by Richard Noble, who had held the record previously.

See also Water Speed Record.