The years just before World War II were some of the most exciting and technically interesting for motorsports enthusiasts everywhere. A handful of the most visionary minds in Europe and the U.K. were developing concepts that would remain dominant in the field for years to come.
One particular hotbed of innovation was the battle for the worlds land-speed record being …
Interesting article! In September 1961, at age 23, I attended the Scuderia Hanseat driving school held at the Nurburgring; we utilized both the North and South loops. Among our instuctors was Hans Stuck Senior. Many of my fellow students were too young to be in awe of him, but I was well aware of his prewar prowess. He was driving a tiny BMW 700 2-door sedan and extracting every last ounce of performance out of it!
Joel Nelson
Peter: I know that your list of "the Records" was of necessity incomplete.
However, I am surprised that you failed to mention the heroic efforts of the Arfon brothers, especially Art Arfon's 555 mph record run on Nov 7, 1965
At the recent Canadian GP, I met David Tremayne, an authority on the LSR, having collaborated on an updated version of Cyril Posthumus' definitive history of the "Land Speed Record", He reminded me of another excellent history: "Speed Duel" by Samuel Hawley which covers the "sixties" part of the history.
In reply to GeoWeb :
Art Afrons run was with a jet powered car, not a wheel driven car, so Peter is correct.
Back in the 60's, I designed a pinewood rubby car that looked just like this and won every race I entered.
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