POPULAR MECHANICS People- Craig Breedlove
Published in Popular Mechanics, Written by: Mary Seelhorst

POPULAR MECHANICS's November 1963 cover showed a radically streamlined vehicle hurtling across an otherworldly landscape toward a distant horizon. But this was no flash from the future. This was the real thing: a world land speed record. And POPULAR MECHANICS had the story from the cockpit.

The vehicle, Spirit of America, was driven by 26-year-old Craig Breedlove. Breedlove went to Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in August 1963 hoping to break John Cobb's 1947 world land speed record of 394.20 mph. When he returned, he had indeed driven the fastest vehicle on Earth. But just what kind of vehicle was a topic for debate.

Some said his Spirit of America was not a car but a motorcycle because it had only three wheels. Others said its jet engine meant it wasn't a car or a motorcycle, but something that defied existing classifications. Everyone agreed that Breedlove had driven this 38-ft.-long tricycle in both directions across Bonneville's measured mile at an average speed of 407.45 mph, clearly a record for wheeled vehicles.

But despite Breedlove's confirmed speed, Cobb's record still stood--that is, for motor-driven 4-wheeled vehicles.

Breedlove's land speed record was recognized by the United States Auto Club, which had established a new class for wheeled jet-propelled land vehicles, and by the international motorcycle body, Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, as a world record for 3-wheeled vehicles.

How Breedlove got into the record books in the first place is a classic POPULAR MECHANICS tale of innovation and determination that parallels the lives of many inventors and adventurers.

Like pilot Jimmy Doolittle, Breedlove was a California kid who built his first vehicle as a teenager--in Breedlove's case, a hot rod at age 14.

Like Walt Disney, he had a vision. After winning some drag races, "I became convinced that we could build a car that would capture the unlimited record for the measured mile," he wrote. "After all, we lacked only money."

Like Henry Ford, he put together a team. "Some friends and I began making design studies. We changed our ideas half a dozen times and finally came up with a basic three-wheel concept that looked good."

Breedlove started building the car in his backyard, and financed it himself. Like many inventors before him, he soon realized he needed a sponsor with money and talent. Breedlove approached Bill Lawler, a regional marketing manager for Shell Oil Co. "Shell had not been active in the racing business in the U.S., but I was enthusiastic and Bill believed me. Together we sold the idea to his management," wrote Breedlove.

With Shell's backing, Breedlove and his team tested the design, first in a wind tunnel and then in the real world. "[Team member] Rod Shapel ran more than 100 wind-tunnel tests to determine things like the shape of the nose. If wrongly designed, the nose could acquire lift and raise the front end off the ground at high speed," Breedlove told readers. Nonetheless, they took it to the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962 for trial runs, but handling problems derailed their attempts at beating the record.

In spite of this setback, the team went home and methodically solved each problem.

Breedlove was well aware that even with a perfectly tuned vehicle, the risks were high. Many had died trying to break Cobb's 1-mile land speed record. But the cocky young Breedlove was confident that his turn had come. "What were my chances of setting a new record? They seemed excellent."

And in August 1963, Breedlove's confidence and hard work paid off.

One record, however, does not a legend make. When he wrote for PM 40 years ago, few people outside the racing world had ever heard of Craig Breedlove.

But jet engines quickly lit the afterburners of competition. The following year was a banner one for land speed, with six new records set in quick succession, five in October alone. Two of those belonged to Breedlove--one taking the record from fellow American Art Arfons, another breaking his own record two days later by almost 40 mph.

The last time the record had been broken six times in a year was in 1904, one of those records being set by Henry Ford on a frozen Michigan lake.

The land speed record was shattered 11 times from 1963 to 1965. We may never see such a rapid rise in land speed records again--over 200 miles per hour in just 28 months. Today the record belongs to Great Britain's Andy Green, who in 1997 broke the speed of sound setting his mark of 763.035 mph.

Even with five previous world records to his credit, Breedlove has never stopped trying to regain the ultimate mark. On his last successful attempt to break the record in November 1965, Breedlove drove his Spirit of America "Sonic 1" 600.601 mph and became the first person to drive faster than 600 mph on land. In 2000 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

His current ride--also called Spirit of America--has a GE J79 turbojet engine, the same as in the F-4 Phantom jet, modified to run on gasoline.