Just two days after that, on October 15, Breedlove became the first past the 500mph threshold with an unprecedented 526.277mph run. Arfons had little time to bask in the afterglow of his achievement, though, because Breedlove responded only eight days later with a 468.719mph run. On October 5, 1964, Arfons’ home-built Green Monster reached 434mph at Bonneville, surpassing Breedlove’s unofficial record.

Yet that first 407mph run was only the beginning of Breedlove’s exploits, as he began swapping records with arch-rival Art Arfons. The Land Speed Record rules at the time dictated that only runs performed by cars with driven wheels were eligible, so Donald Campbell became the next official record holder in his gas turbine-powered Bluebird CN7 in 1964. On August 5, 1963, now aged just 26, Breedlove became the fastest man on Earth by achieving 407mph in his Spirit of America jet car at the Bonneville Salt Flats. “It was the most patriotic thing I could think of,” Breedlove recalled.

He completed the build in 1955, and drove the car to 152.80mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats at just 18 years of age.Įnglish racing driver and Land Speed Record holder John Cobb was cited by Breedlove as a major source of inspiration, as was the famous line “Ask what you can do for your country,” from John F Kennedy’s inauguration speech in 1961.īreedlove’s response to JFK’s sentiment was to bring the Land Speed Record back to the United States for the first time since 1928, when Ray Keech reached 207.552mph driving his White Triplex. Breedlove was revered as a five-time Land Speed Record holder, and was the first person in history to reach 400mph, 500mph and 600mph on land.īreedlove’s insatiable quest for speed began as a teenager, when he spent four years rebuilding a scrap three-window ’34 Ford Coupe. Legendary American Land Speed Record-breaker Craig Breedlove has died of cancer aged 86. WORDS: ELLIOTT HUGHES | PHOTOS: BREEDLOVE FAMILY AND WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Bonneville salt flats land speed record