Lee Bible was a garage operator and a land speed record attemptee. He was killed attempting to break the land speed record on March 13, 1929 at Ormond Beach.

Pre-record attempt

On 11 March, Briton Major Henry O. D. Segrave

Henry Segrave

-External links:* * * * *...

 had set the land speed record of 231.44 mi/h in his 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...

, beating the old record held by Ray Keech

Ray Keech

Ray Keech was a board track and brick track racer in the 1920s. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, and for setting a land speed record.-Land speed record:...

, who had set the record in the Triplex Special

White Triplex

The White Triplex was a land speed record car built for J. H. White and driven by Ray Keech. It was powered by three 27-litre Liberty aero-engines, for a total of 36 cylinders, 81 litre displacement and a claimed 1500 bhp.A wealthy American, J. H...

.

Jim White, owner of the Special, wanted the title to come back to the USA. Keech was asked to come back and drive the Triplex Special, but he declined, considering the car too dangerous.

White then offered the ride to their team mechanic and garage operator, Lee Bible, who saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime. He was declared eligible by officials after a few practice runs, despite his lack of experience.

The Record attempt

On his first run, Bible was clocked at 186 mi/h, well below the record. On his return run he was clocked at 202 mi/h. However shortly after the time trap the car suddenly swerved, presumably because Bible released the accelerator too fast. The Triplex Special crashed into the dunes and rolled, finally coming to a stop 200 feet (61 m) further. During this crash, Bible was thrown from the car, killing him instantly. His battered body rolled to a stop at the feet of his wife. The Triplex Special rolled into a photographer, who was killed instantly.