Campbell-Napier-Railton Bluebird
Encyclopedia
Land speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
car driven by Malcolm Campbell
Malcolm Campbell
Sir Malcolm Campbell was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird...
.
After Segrave
Henry Segrave
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's Golden Arrow
Golden Arrow (land speed racer)
Golden Arrow was a land speed record racer. Built for Major Henry Segrave to take the LSR from Ray Keech, Golden Arrow was one of the first streamlined land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight cowling...
, clearly a more powerful engine was required for Blue Bird, with a chassis and transmission to handle it. A supercharged Napier Lion
Napier Lion
The Napier Lion was a 12-cylinder broad arrow configuration aircraft engine built by Napier & Son starting in 1917, and ending in the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day, and kept it in production long after contemporary designs had stopped production...
VIID was used, with over three times the power of the previous Blue Bird and a large premium over Golden Arrow
Golden Arrow (land speed racer)
Golden Arrow was a land speed record racer. Built for Major Henry Segrave to take the LSR from Ray Keech, Golden Arrow was one of the first streamlined land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight cowling...
's unsupercharged 900 hp Lion VIIA. This was the first use of supercharging for Land Speed Record cars. Golden Arrow
Golden Arrow (land speed racer)
Golden Arrow was a land speed record racer. Built for Major Henry Segrave to take the LSR from Ray Keech, Golden Arrow was one of the first streamlined land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight cowling...
's innovative vertical aerodynamic stabilising fin was also used, a first for Campbell.
Campbell's nemesis Segrave
Henry Segrave
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was killed in an attempt on the water speed record whilst Campbell was scouting for new record courses in South Africa. On his return he set off for Daytona
Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set...
with the new Blue Bird, concerned at American challenges to the record. Segrave
Henry Segrave
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had, after all, at least been British. On 5 February 1931 he pushed the record to 246 mi/h, to great popular acclaim. On his return he learned he was to be knighted as Sir Malcolm Campbell. A year later he returned and pushed through to 251 mi/h. This record stood for another year, until he himself broke it with his next car, the next Rolls-Royce-engined 1933 Blue Bird.