View source for Land speed record

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[[Image:Rc05640.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ralph DePalma]] in his Packard '905' Special at [[Daytona Beach Road Course|Daytona Beach]] in 1919, <small>courtesy of the ''Florida Photographic Collection''</small>]]
[[Image:Miss Dorothy Levitt, in a 26hp Napier, Brooklands, 1908.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Dorothy Levitt]], in a 26hp Napier, at Brooklands, 1908]]
[[Image:ThrustSSC.jpg|thumb|right|[[ThrustSSC]], driven by [[Andy Green]], holds the current land speed record]]


The '''land speed record''' (or '''absolute land speed record''') is the fastest speed achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; what is used in practice is the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regulations, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]]. The record is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes") in opposite directions within one hour. A new record mark must exceed the previous one by one percent to be validated. There are numerous other class records for cars, and [[Motorcycle land speed record|motorcycle]]s fall into another, separate, class. The current absolute record holder is ''[[ThrustSSC]]'', a twin [[turbofan]]-powered car which achieved 763 mph for the mile (1.6&nbsp;km), breaking the [[sound barrier]].

Until 1906, the [[Land speed record for railed vehicles|rail speed record]] exceeded the auto speed record. However, the current unmanned record is held by a railed vehicle and stands at [[mach number|Mach]] 8.5.


==History==

The first regulators were the [[French Automobile Club|''Automobile Club de France'']], who proclaimed themselves arbiters of the record around 1902.

In 1906 [[Dorothy Levitt]] broke the women's world speed record recording a speed of 96 mph (154&nbsp;km/h) and was described as the "Fastest Girl on Earth" when she drove a six-cylinder Napier motorcar in a speed trial in Blackpool.

Different clubs had different standards and did not always recognise the same world records until 1924, when ''Association International des Automobile Clubs Reconnus'' (AIACR) introduced  new regulations: 2 passes averaged with a maximum 30min (later more) between runs, average gradient of the racing surface not over 1%, timing gear accurate within 0.01sec, and cars must be [[drive wheel|wheel-driven]]. National or regional auto clubs (such as [[American Automobile Association|AAA]] and [[SCTA]]) had to be AIACR members to ensure records would be recognized. The AIACR became the FIA in 1947. Controversy arose in 1963. ''[[Spirit of America]]'' failed on being a three-wheeler (leading [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme]] to certify the record when FIA refused) and not wheel-driven, but the general public did not care, so FIA introduced a special [[wheel-driven land speed record|wheel-driven class]]. No holder of the absolute record since has been wheel-driven.


==Records==
===1898 – 1965 (wheel driven)===

{| border=1 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=4 style="float:center; margin:0 0 .5em 1em; width:800px; background:#505050; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid #999; font-size:83%; line-height:1.5; " summary="Infobox Automobile"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#505050;"
|- tr BGCOLOR=darkred
!width="12%" rowspan="2"|Date
!width="10%" rowspan="2"|Location
!width="13%" rowspan="2"|Driver
!width="15%" rowspan="2"|Vehicle
!width="8%" rowspan="2"|Power
!width="8%" colspan="2"|Speed over<br />1&nbsp;km
!width="8%" colspan="2"|Speed over<br />1&nbsp;mile
!width="12%" rowspan="2"|Comments
|-
!mph!!km/h!!mph!!km/h
|-
|December 18, 1898||[[Achères, Yvelines]], France||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat]]||[[Jeantaud]] Duc||[[Battery electric vehicle|Electric]]
|39.24||63.15|| || || 
|-
|January 17, 1899||Achères, France||{{flagiconBEL}} [[Camille Jenatzy]]||CGA Dogcart||Electric
|41.42||66.66|| || || 
|-
|January 17, 1899||Achères, France||{{flagiconFRA}} Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat||[[Jeantaud]] Duc||Electric
|43.69||70.31|| || || 
|-
|January 27, 1899||Achères, France||{{flagiconBEL}} [[Camille Jenatzy]]||CGA Dogcart||Electric
|49.93||80.35|| || || 
|-
|March 4, 1899||Achères, France||{{flagiconFRA}} Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat||[[Jeantaud]] Duc Profilée||Electric
|57.65||92.78|| || || 
|-
|April 29, 1899||Achères, France||{{flagiconBEL}} [[Camille Jenatzy]]||CITA No 25, [[La Jamais Contente]]||Electric
|65.79||105.88||colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||First record over 100 km/h
|-
|April 13, 1902||[[Nice]], France<br />Promenade des Anglais||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Gardner-Serpollet|Leon Serpollet]]||[[Gardner-Serpollet]] [[Gardner-Serpollet#Oeuf de Pâques|''Oeuf de Pâques'']] (Easter Egg)||[[Steam car|Steam]]
|75.06||120.80|| || || 
|-
|November 5, 1902||Ablis, France||{{flagiconUSA}} [[William Kissam Vanderbilt II|William K. Vanderbilt]] ||Mors Z Paris-Vienne||[[Internal combustion|IC]]
|76.08||122.44|| || || 
|-
|November 5, 1902||Dourdan, France||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Henri Fournier]]||Mors Z Paris-Vienne||IC
|76.60||123.28|| || || 
|-
|November 17, 1902||Dourdan, France||{{flagiconFRA}} M. Augières||Mors Z Paris-Vienne||IC
|77.13||124.13|| || || 
|-
|July 17, 1903||Ostend, Belgium||{{flagiconBEL}} [[Arthur Duray]]||Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid||IC
|83.46||134.32|| || || 
|-
|November 5, 1903||Dourdan, France||{{flagiconBEL}} Arthur Duray||Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid||IC
|84.73||136.36|| || ||
|-
|January 12, 1904||Lake St. Clair, USA||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Henry Ford]]||[[Ford 999]] Racer||IC
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||91.37||147.05||On frozen lake
|-
|March 31, 1904||Nice, France||{{flagiconBEL}} Arthur Duray||Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid||IC
|88.76||142.85|| || || 
|-
|March 31, 1904||Nice, France||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Louis Rigolly]]||Gobron Brillié Paris-Madrid||IC
|94.78||152.53|| || || 
|-
|May 25, 1904||Ostend, Belgium||{{flagiconBEL}} [[Pierre de Caters]]||[[Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft|DMG ''Mercedes'']] Simplex 90||IC
|97.25||156.50|| || || 
|-
|July 21, 1904||Ostend, Belgium||{{flagiconFRA}} Louis Rigolly||Gobron Brillié [[Gordon Bennett Cup]]||IC
|103.56||166.66|| || || first over 100 mi/h
|-
|November 13, 1904||Ostend, Belgium||{{flagiconFRA}} Paul Baras||[[Darracq]] Gordon Bennett||IC
|104.53||168.22|| || || 
|-
|January 24, 1905||[[Daytona Beach Road Course|Daytona Beach]], USA||{{flagiconFRA}} Arthur MacDonald||[[Napier & Son|Napier]] 6||IC
|104.65||168.42|| || || 
|-
|December 30, 1905||Arles, France||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Victor Hémery]]||Darracq V8 Special||IC
|109.65||175.44|| || || 
|-
|January 26, 1906||[[Daytona Beach Road Course|Ormond Beach]], USA||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Fred Marriott]]||[[Stanley Steamer|Stanley Rocket Racer]]||Steam
|127.66||205.44|| || || First over {{convert|200|km/h|mi/h|0|abbr=on}}, first speed greater than contemporary rail speed record, remains the record for steam powered vehicles
|-
|November 6, 1909||[[Brooklands]], United Kingdom||{{flagiconFRA}} [[Victor Hémery]]||200 hp (150&nbsp;kW) [[Benz & Cie.|Benz]] No 1||IC
|125.94||202.68||115.93||186.57||first run using electronic timing
|-
|June 24, 1914||Brooklands, United Kingdom||{{flagiconGBR}} L. G. Hornstead||200 hp (150&nbsp;kW) [[Benz & Cie.|Benz]] No 3||IC
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||124.09||199.70||First 2-way record, set at Brooklands under new ''Association International des Automobile Clubs Reconnus'' (AIACR) 2-way rule
|-
|February 12, 1919||[[Daytona Beach Road Course|Daytona Beach]], USA||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Ralph DePalma]]||Packard 905
|IC ||149.875||241.200||colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;
|Recognized in the USA, not recognized by AIACR
|-
|May 17, 1922||Brooklands, United Kingdom||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Kenelm Lee Guinness]]
| [[Sunbeam 350HP]]
|IC||133.70||215.17||129.17||207.88
|Last record set on a closed course
|-
|July 6, 1924||Arpajon, France||{{flagiconFRA}} [[René Thomas (France)|René Thomas]]||[[Delage]] ''La Torpille''||IC
|143.21||230.47||143.31||230.64
|-
|July 12, 1924||Arpajon, France||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Ernest A. D. Eldridge]]||[[FIAT]] Special ''Mephistopeles II''||IC
|146.01||234.98||145.89||234.79 
|Last record set on a public road
|-
|September 25, 1924||[[Pendine Sands]], [[Wales]]||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Malcolm Campbell]] || ''[[Sunbeam 350HP|Blue Bird]]'' 
|IC ||146.15||235.21||146.16||235.22
|-
|July 21, 1925||Pendine Sands, Wales||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell ||  ''[[Sunbeam 350HP|Blue Bird]]'' ||IC||150.86||242.79||150.76||242.62
|-
|March 21, 1926||Southport, United Kingdom||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Henry Segrave]]
|4 Litre [[Sunbeam Tiger (1925)|Sunbeam Tiger]] ''Ladybird''
|IC||152.30||245.10||149.32||240.31
|Last record set by a racing car, not a specialist record-breaker
|-
|April 27 1926||Pendine Sands, Wales|| {{flagiconGBR}} [[J.G. Parry-Thomas]] || [[Babs (Land speed record car)]]|''Babs'']] (ex-Higham-Thomas Special) ||IC<br>26.9&nbsp;liter [[Liberty engine|Liberty]]
|169.29||272.45||168.07||270.48
|-
|April 28, 1926 ||Pendine Sands, Wales||{{flagiconGBR}} [[J.G. Parry-Thomas]]|| ''[[Babs]]'' ||IC
|171.01||273.60||170.62||274.59
|Survived. His death was in March a year later, trying to re-capture the record from Campbell
|-
|February 4, 1927||Pendine Sands, Wales || {{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''[[Napier-Campbell Blue Bird|Blue Bird II]]'' 
|IC||174.88||281.44||174.22||280.38 
|Last record set in Europe
|-
|March 29, 1927||Daytona Beach, USA|| {{flagiconGBR}} Henry Segrave || [[Sunbeam 1000 hp]] || IC
|202.98||326.66||203.79||327.97
|First over 200 mi/h
|-
|February 19, 1928||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''[[Napier-Campbell Blue Bird|Blue Bird III]]''
|IC
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||206.95||333.05
|-
|April 22, 1928||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Ray Keech]] || [[White Triplex]] ''Spirit of Elkdom''||IC<br>Three 26.9&nbsp;liter Liberty
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||207.55||334.02
|-
|March 11, 1929||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Henry Segrave || Irving-Napier [[Golden Arrow (land speed racer)|''Golden Arrow'']]
||IC
|231.56||372.66||231.36||372.34
|Segrave retired from land speed racing and ''Golden Arrow'' never ran again
|-
|February 5, 1931||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''[[Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird]]''
|IC || 246.08 || 396.03 || 245.73 || 395.46
|-
|February 24, 1932||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird''
|IC ||251.34||404.49||253.96||408.71
|-
|February 22, 1933||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''[[Campbell-Railton Blue Bird]]''
|IC ||272.46||438.48||272.10||437.90
|-
|March 7, 1935||Daytona Beach, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell 
| ''Campbell-Railton Blue Bird''
|IC ||276.16||444.44||276.71||445.32
|Last record set on a beach
|-
|September 3, 1935||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]], USA|| {{flagiconGBR}} Malcolm Campbell
| ''Campbell-Railton Blue Bird''
|IC
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||301.129||484.620
|First over 300 mi/h
|-
|November 19, 1937||Bonneville Salt Flats, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} [[George Eyston]]
| [[Thunderbolt (car)|''Thunderbolt'']]
| IC||312.00||502.11||311.41||501.17
|-
|August 27, 1938||Bonneville Salt Flats, USA||{{flagiconGBR}} George Eyston 
| ''Thunderbolt'' 
|IC || 345.20||555.55||345.48||556.00
|-
|November 12, 1965||Bonneville Salt Flats, USA||{{flagiconUSA}} Bob Summers
| [[Goldenrod (car)|''Goldenrod'']]
| IC|| - || - ||409.277||658.527
|}


===1963 – present (jet and rocket propulsion) ===

[[Craig Breedlove]]'s mark of 408.312 mph, set in ''[[Spirit of America]]'' in September 1963, was initially considered unofficial.  The vehicle breached the FIA regulations on two grounds: it had only three wheels, and it was not [[drive wheel|wheel-driven]], since its jet engine did not supply power to its axles.  Some time later, the [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme]] created a non-wheel-driven category, and ratified ''Spirit of America'' 's time for this mark. On July 27 1964, [[Donald Campbell]]'s [[Bluebird CN7]] posted a time of 403.10 mph on [[Lake Eyre]], [[Australia]].  This became the official FIA LSR, although Campbell was disappointed not to have beaten Breedlove's time.  In October, several four-wheel jet-cars surpassed the 1963 mark, but were eligible for neither the FIA nor FIM ratification.  The confusion of having three different LSRs lasted until December 11, 1964, when the FIA and FIM met in Paris and agreed to recognize as an absolute LSR the higher speed recorded by either body, by any vehicles running on wheels, whether wheel-driven or not. Thus, [[Art Arfons]]' ''[[Green Monster (dragster)|Green Monster]]'' was belatedly recognised as the absolute LSR holder, while ''Bluebird'' held the now-separate [[wheel-driven land speed record]], and ''Spirit of America'' the tricycle record.  Since then, no wheel-driven car has held the absolute record.


{| border=1 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=4 style="float:center; margin:0 0 .5em 1em; width:800px; background:#505050; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid #999; font-size:83%; line-height:1.5; " summary="Infobox Automobile"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#505050;"
|- tr BGCOLOR=darkred
!width="12%" rowspan="2"|Date
!width="10%" rowspan="2"|Location
!width="13%" rowspan="2"|Driver
!width="15%" rowspan="2"|Vehicle
!width="7%" rowspan="2"|Power
!width="8%" colspan="2"|Speed over<br />1&nbsp;km
!width="8%" colspan="2"|Speed over<br />1&nbsp;mile
!width="12%" rowspan="2"|Comments
|-
!mph!!km/h!!mph!!km/h
|- 
|[[September 5]], [[1963]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]], USA||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Craig Breedlove]]||''[[Spirit of America]]''||[[Turbojet]]
|408.312||657.114||407.447||655.722||Ratified by [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] as vehicle has 3 wheels 
|-
|[[October 5]], [[1964]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Tom Green (Auto racer)|Tom Green]] || ''[[Wingfoot Express]]'' ||[[Turbojet]]
|415.093||668.027||413.199||664.979||Unratified
|-
|[[October 7]], [[1964]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Art Arfons]]||[[Green Monster (dragster)|''Green Monster'']]||Turbojet
|434.356||699.028||434.022||698.490||Unratified
|-
|[[October 13]], [[1964]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Craig Breedlove||''Spirit of America||Turbojet
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||468.719||754.330||Unratified
|-
|[[October 15]], [[1964]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Craig Breedlove||''Spirit of America''||Turbojet
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||526.277||846.861||Unratified
|-
|[[October 27]], [[1964]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Art Arfons||''Green Monster''||Turbojet
|544.134||875.699||536.710||863.791|| First FIA-ratified jetcar LSR
|-
|[[November 2]], [[1965]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Craig Breedlove||''Spirit of America - Sonic 1''||Turbojet
|555.485||893.966||555.485||893.966
|-
|[[November 7]], [[1965]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Art Arfons||''Green Monster''||Turbojet
|572.546||921.423||576.553||927.872
|-
|[[November 15]], [[1965]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} Craig Breedlove||''Spirit of America - Sonic 1''||Turbojet
|600.842||966.961||600.601||966.574
|-
|[[October 23]], [[1970]]||[[Bonneville Speedway|Bonneville Salt Flats]]||{{flagiconUSA}} [[Gary Gabelich]]||[[Blue Flame (car)|''Blue Flame'']]||[[Rocket]]
|630.389||1014.52||622.407||1001.67||First record over {{convert|1000|km/h|mi/h|0|abbr=on}}
|-
|October 4, 1983||[[Black Rock Desert]], USA||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Richard Noble]]||''[[Thrust2]]''||[[Turbojet]]
|colspan="2" align="center"|&mdash;||633||1019.47||
|-
|September 25, 1997||[[Black Rock Desert]], USA||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Andy Green]]||''[[ThrustSSC]]''||[[Turbofan]]
|713.990||1149.055||714.144||1149.303||
|-
|October 15, 1997||[[Black Rock Desert]], USA||{{flagiconGBR}} [[Andy Green]]||''[[ThrustSSC]]''||[[Turbofan]]
|760.343||1223.657||763.035||1227.986||First supersonic record
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[List of vehicle speed records]]
* [[Wheel-driven land speed record]]
* [[Fastest production car]]
* [[Motorcycle land speed record]]


==External links==
* [http://www.peterrenn.clara.net/l.s.r.html www.peterrenn.clara.net]
* [http://dmoz.org/Sports/Motorsports/Auto_Racing/Speed_Records/ Autoracing speed records]



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