The other day we told you about how Volkswagen broke a very specific land speed record in their very modified Jetta at the Bonneville Salt Flats. What we didn’t show you then was the in-car video of the event, and when you see it now you’ll understand why: it’s possibly the most boring speed record video you’ve ever…
In 1960, racer Mickey Thompson brought the Challenger I to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set a one-time speed of 406.60 mph, making him the first American racer to break the 400 mph barrier. This weekend at the same place, his son Danny Thompson—in Challenger II, another car his father built—set an astounding new…
As I’ve made abundantly clear, I’m an automotive space-utilization fetishist. This car I want to talk about right now might just be the most extreme example of packaging ever in motoring history. It’s the Railton Mobil Special, built to break and set new land speed records in 1938. There’s never been anything quite…
Land Rovers are lovely, Jeeps are cool and International Scouts are obviously sweet. But the Toyota Land Cruiser is, always and forever, the gold standard in off-road capability and rough-country survivability. Getting one to pass 220 MPH is pretty far out of its wheelhouse though.
Electric skateboards are the newest form of terrifying personal transportation, and as with anything that moves, somebody wants to set a record. Mischo Eban officially set the Guinness World Record for fastest speed on an electric skateboard, and as a victim of skateboard violence, it looks absolutely nuts.
Technically, Hyundai did set the land speed record for the fastest production hydrogen-powered crossover, which definitely didn’t exist before this test. They even provided a little video . So just exactly how fast are we talking?
AutoEvolution reports that motorcycle racing legend Guy Martin will pilot their Rocket III Streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats, an insane carbon-kevlar racer with two turbo engines making over 1,000 hp, a miniscule cockpit and hand controls made for an airplane.
Way back in 1997 the first supersonic car ever built smashed the world land speed record. The Thrust SSC was silent in its menacing and deliberate approach, until it finally passed you with a wallop of a double BANG as it crushed and broke through the sound barrier. This is the inside story of that run.
16-year-old Kaylin Stewart is trying to hit 200 MPH on the Bonneville Salt Flats, and is making a movie about speed-record holding women in the process. Her scheduled run got rained out last week, but at least she got some really cool footage of the Flats like you've never seen them; as the lakes they once were.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are gearhead heaven. Whatever you're driving, you can push it to the limits on the seemingly endless expanse of dry lakebed. Surrounded by distant mountains, driving out there feels like being in an arena.
In 1965, with a shiny, gold streamliner they'd built in a shed — and four Hemi V8s — brothers Bill and Bob "Butch" Summers ended the longstanding British rule over the wheel-driven land-speed record. Bill Summers died last week at 75.
Remember the great land speed records waged between Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove that pushed speeds to 500+ mph and more? This is just like that. Only slower. And with lawn mowers.
When Bloodhound SSC makes its 42 second run for a 1000MPH land speed record, it'll use a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine and hybrid-rocket to deliver 47,500 pounds of thrust. Somehow, former fighter-pilot and driver Andy Green hopes to survive.
No? How about the drawing that Bill Mitchell filed for the '63 Corvette? One of Henry Seagrave's land-speed record cars? Maybe you'd prefer a Weddell car-boat thing? We're ordering prints now. Why aren't you? [Vintagraph]
It isn't often that an engine makes the front page of Wikipedia, but not many engines score as high on the Ass-Kick-O-Meter™ as the Rolls-Royce R!
There are countless classes attempting records at Bonneville but Spectre Performance is attempting one of the most important: going over 400 MPH in a gas-powered, wheel-driven car. Audio of the engine and pictures below.
The British team attempting to break the long-standing steam-powered land speed record have beaten the 127 MPH mark, unofficially. They still need a visit from the FIA and another pair of runs to make it official.
Jesse James set a record speed of 199.712 in the hydrogen-powered Streamliner at the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed last week, besting the hydrogen record previously held by the BMW H2R, thus proving Americans lead in increasingly obsolete technology.
If you're one of those weirdo intellectual gearheads who reads books, we're not going to give you the swirly-and-stolen-lunch-money treatment you probably deserve. No, we're going to indulge your shameful habit!
It seems like the team of British speed freaks aiming at one of the oldest land speed records on the books is one step closer after successfully testing their steam-powered speedster.
