Sunbeam and the World Land Speed Record

Sunbeam's attempts on the world land speed record were probably made for the same reasons as they went in for motor racing - it improved the breed and got lots of publicity.

Publicity shot prior to leaving for Daytona Beach.
The record breaking team with the 1000 h.p. car.

Sunbeam's first successful attempt was on the 17th May 1922 when Kenelm Lee Guinness clocked 133.75m.p.h. at Brooklands. The car, designed by Louis Coatalen, used a 18,322 cc, 350 hp, petrol aero engine. It was the first aero engined car and the last land speed record to be achieved at Brooklands.

The car was bought by Malcolm Campbell, who modified it slightly and painted it blue: it was the first "Bluebird". Meanwhile the record had been taken by a Frenchman, Rene Thomas, in a Delage, and then by and Englishman, Ernest Eldridge in a Fiat. After two unsuccessful attempts Campbell pushed the record up to 141.16 mph. He achieved this at Pendine Sands, near Carmathen, on 25th September 1924. On 21st July 1925 Campbell got his record up to 150.78 mph.

Louis Coatalen, having designed the massive Bluebird, then changed tack and produced a new, lightweight Sunbeam with an engine of only 4 litres. Driving this vehicle Major Henry Segrave took the record from Campbell, achieving a speed of 152.33 mph on Southport Sands on 16th March 1926.

But only six weeks later John Parry-Thomas, with another massive, aero-engined car, broke the record twice. Campbell was also building another monster, using a 24 litre aero engine. It seems that he built this at his own expense and in his own workshops and the connection between Sunbeam and Bluebird had been severed. On 4th February 1927 Campbell got the record back, achieving 174.88 mph on Pendine Sands.

Sunbeam and Coatalen responded with another massive, aero-engined car. With this car Sunbeam made what was probably their most famous attempt on the world land speed record. The 1000 hp Sunbeam, sometimes called the Mystery S, was designed by Louis Coatalen and was unlike anything produced before.

Its foundation consisted of a massive steel-channel chassis frame, at each end of which was mounted a 5000 hp 12 cylinder Sunbeam-Coatalen aero engine.The 500 hp was developed at 2,250 rpm. The body of the car was built in sections of sheet aluminium, securely fastened on a framework of angle iron. It overall length was 23 feet 6 inches. The tyres measured 6 3/4 inches x 36 inches. At 200 mph the tyres made 1,800 rpm or 30 per second. The car weighed about 3 tons.

For the attempt the car was taken to Daytona Beach, Florida where it was driven by Major Henry O. D. Segrave.

On 29th March 1927 an estimated crowd of 15,000 watched as Segrave made two runs over the beach course - one north bound, the other south bound, to eliminate any favourable influence of the wind.

He achieved a maximum speed of 207.01 mph and an average speed of 203.792 mph. His time in seconds was 17.66. He was the first man to travel faster than 200 mph on land.