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Wheel-driven land speed record

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The wheel-driven land speed record differs from the absolute land speed record in requiring that the vehicle be wheel-driven; thus, jet engine and rocket propelled vehicles are ineligible. The record is validated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. In principle any car in Category A or Category B can hold the record; in practice, holders are from Category A (Special cars)—Class 11 (Engine capacity > 8,000 cc).

Until 1963, the absolute land speed record holder was always a wheel-driven car. The first jet-car to exceed the absolute record was Craig Breedlove's Spirit of America. Since then, no wheel-driven car has held the absolute record. Since 1963, holders of the wheel-driven land speed record have been:

Date Location Driver Vehicle Power Speed over
1 km 		Speed over
1 mile 		Notes
mph km/h mph km/h
September 16, 1947 Bonneville Salt Flats, USA United Kingdom John Cobb Railton Mobil Special IC 393.82 633.79 394.19 634.39 First 400 mph (640 km/h) pass
July 17, 1964 Lake Eyre, Australia United Kingdom Donald Campbell Bluebird CN7 Turboshaft — 403.10 644.96 FIA's official absolute record-holder till a change in the rules in December 1964 made jetcars eligible.[1]
November 13, 1965 Bonneville Salt Flats, USA United States Bob Summers Goldenrod IC — 409.277 658.526
August 21, 1991 Bonneville Salt Flats, USA United States Elwin "Al" Teague Spirit of '76 (Torque Speed-o-Mative Streamliner) supercharged hemi 425.050 684.052 409.978 659.796 [2]

References

  1. ^ "from our motoring correspondent" (Saturday, Dec 12, 1964). "Land Speed Record Agreement". The Times. No. Issue 56193. p. 7, col E. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); |issue= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "List of Records Category A" (PDF) (in French). FIA. 2008-06-05. pp. p.9. Retrieved 2008-11-06. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
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