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

By: Andy Lambert

Andy Lambert — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:09:40 +0000

That Picture was taken at Brooklands in Weybridge Surrey where the Campbells tested many of their cars. The guys around him would have been true petrol heads of their time and some could well have been fellow drivers.

Brooklands was the home of Motor Sport in the UK until the 2nd WW, but it was also the place where aviation really started and record making aircraft like the Vimy were built. So you could say those guys were very serious about anything to do with combustion engines.

If you don’t know there is a large Motoring and Aviation Museum at Brooklands today

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:19:12 +0000

Sit Down, Strap up and get the f outta my way!!
Love these factoids from you Vito. Great job of educating us on some interesting history. Plus–that first pic is ultra awesome. I mean, everyone around him was probably super serious at the time, afraid he might blow up or something, but he looks like he’s having the time of his life. Sweet.

By: Terry Parkhurst

Terry Parkhurst — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:53:54 +0000

Mickey Thompson, whose Challenger One was powered by four supercharged Pontiac V8s, achieved a speed of just a bit above 400 mph in the early Sixties; yet the World Land Speed Record elluded him. He was one of the those people who literally became a legend, thanks to his involvement in all manner of motorsports, including Indy, off-road racing and the Bonneville Salt Flats. His name was attached to off-road stadium racing – berms created inside the building – and that was sadly the cause of his demise. A business partner paid some people to kill both Mickey Thompson and his wife, after said business partner was booted out of the business of stadium racing. After years of saying he had done no such thing, a jury convicted that former business partner who is now in prison.

But Mickey Thompson remains a legend.