The Steam World Land Speed Record

As many land speed record enthusiasts will tell you the ultimate land speed record currently stands at 763.035 MPH - Mach 1.0175 or faster than the speed of sound. This record was set across a measured mile by vehicle pilot Andy Green and a team of dedicated engineers and crew led by Richard Noble. This record stands as the ultimate record for any land speed record, but in the interest of fairness to different categories of vehicles the sanctioning body has created several classifications for the land speed record (LSR).

One of the classes of that record is the steam powered LSR (SLSR). It differentiates vehicles powered by internal combustion engines such as petrol or gas turbine types from external combustion engines such as steam reciprocating or steam turbine engines. This distinction has effectively caused the steam LSR to go largely ignored except by a few dedicated individuals 

In 1906, Fred Marriott drove a steam powered vehicle built by the Stanley Brothers to an amazing speed of 127.659 MPH, The sanctioning body for international land speed records at the time was the FIA. Land speed records were measured across a marked mile in a single direction and a single pass. The time was recorded and the record determination was made from the calculations of that time.

Today the FIA is still the sanctioning body and recognizes a land speed record as the average speed of two passes made across a measured distance in opposing directions within 60 minutes of each other. The time of the two runs is then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. However, this requirement was instituted in 1910 after the record was established and therefore is still recognized as the official land speed record.

While the mile in which the attempt is being made cannot move during the attempt, there is no limit to the runup or braking distance for the vehicle as well or location that the event must take place. By virtue of the nature of a dry lake bed, it is common for attempts to be made on one of the dry lakes prevalent in the Southwest and Western parts of the United States.

The absolute record stood until 1910 when it was beaten by a petrol powered Benz by the narrow margin of 3.5 miles per hour. Ultimately the FIA recognized separate records for steam engine powered vehicles as opposed to internal combustion engines. By 1919 the absolute record had been set by an internal combustion engined car with a recorded speed of 150 MPH but the steam record remained untouched.

The late entrepreneur William Lear ventured into the arena of steam powered vehicles during a 1969 program sponsored by the state of California that intended to bring about ecologically friendly steam powered city busses. For this application Lear turned to Barber-Nichols Engineering to design a steam turbine and although the city bus program ultimately failed, several turbines were built in support of the program.

In 1985 one of the Lear turbines found its way into a car which had been brought to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, USA for an attempt at the steam powered Land Speed record. Over the course of several years the car progressed from 110 MPH to a measured speed of 145.607 MPH.

The official speed set by Bob Barber stands at 145.607 MPH but is not recognized by the FIA. However, we at the British Steam Car Challenge recognize this speed as the record to exceed.

(c) 1999-2008, British Steam Car Challenge