Today in History: Sir Malcolm Campbell Breaks the Land Speed Record

September 3rd, 1935 - Sir Malcolm Campbell drove his specially built Campbell-Railton Bluebird, powered by a supercharged Rolls-Royce R V12, across the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, surpassing 300 mph and breaking the land speed record for the ninth time.

That’s right, ninth time. Campbell broke nine land speed records, and five of them were in a row, meaning he kept going back to break his own damn records. Balls of Solid Steel. The first was in 1924, when he broke 146 mph; and only 11 years later, he would be the first person on earth to drive a car over 300 mph.

Sir Malcolm Campbell: WWI pilot, motorcycle racer, Grand Prix racer, journalist, knight, and general badass extraordinaire, is the first man inducted into our RideLust Badass Hall of Fame (possibily to be re-named the Sir Malcolm Campbell Balls of Steel Award)

If you have any further nominations, feel free to leave them in the comments.

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National Roadster Show 1957

That’s right. It wasn’t the Oakland Roadster show, or even the Grand National Roadster show. I recently acquired the programs for the 1957, ‘58, and ‘59 “National Roadster Show” and have always been intrigued about who was there those years. Started in 1949, Oakland’s big indoor show had grown tremendously and achieved some serious clout by the late 50s. For the 8th annual event, take a look at some of the names that showed up: Norm Grabowski (pre-Kookie car!), a young Roy Brizio, Hayward local Joe Bailon, George Barris brought up the Kopper Kart, Hersh “Junior” Conway, Jerry Sahogon, and many more… I just didn’t have time to scan all the pages in! Its sad to think that the show is now located 350 miles to the south, and although its a far better show than its final years in the Bay Area, its still sad to think we lost this legendary event from its home in what’s left of Oakland, California (where I live). Please enjoy the looking over the pages and reading about the cars that made it there over 52 years ago. I’ve also included a scan of the raffle ticket I found inside the program, in case you want to win a roller cam kit.

If you were there in ‘57 or have pictures from the event- Please post them here, if you get a chance.

…………

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This one is off-topic for sure, but it’s a great story about a gorgeous ...

This one is off-topic for sure, but it’s a great story about a gorgeous car and I figured you guys could at least appreciate it. If not, just skip it… We’ll be back with big news tomorrow. Until then, let’s check out what was going on at Alfa Romeo in 1934. Vittorio Jano was chief engineer at the time and he was working hard to match the design standard set by the newly released Auto Union ‘Silver Arrow’ and Mercedes W25. Alfa had to compete.

For some reason unknown to just about everyone, Jano decided to ship the project to an Italian outpost in Croatia where two brothers, Gino and Oscar Jankovits, were to complete the project. By 1937, the brothers had completed the car and were ready to show off their work to the brass at Alfa. There was a problem however… Jano had been fired and Alfa was no longer interested in the aerodynamic masterpiece.

Without Alfa’s involvement, the Jankovits couldn’t manage the v12 power and a straight six was substituted. They also added turn signals and other odds and ends to make it streetable. In 1941, however, the car was moth balled as the brothers prepared for World War II.

After the war, the Jankovits’ found themselves in a tough spot. Their country, Yugoslavia, had turned communist and they knew their freedom was about to become very limited. On Christmas day in 1946, the brothers dug the car out of storage, loaded it up with necessities, and hauled ass for the border. The oddly shaped car startled the border guards and they immediately began firing. Bullets whizzing by their heads, the brothers pressed on and made it through.

The rest of the story is pretty irrelevant from there. I mean, how can you top a border shoot out?

In any case, study the details of the Alfa… Sure, it’s gorgeously shaped and full of personality. But you know what? I think we could do better - then and now.

My vision? A sleeker shape similar to the So-Cal streamliner that hides a mid-mounted and blown Ford flathead, full disc covers over larger 18″ wheels and skinny rubber, light blue/silver “Made in America” paint, etc… Get to work Norwell - we need something to dream about.

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