British Steam Car team beats 103-year-old record
Published: 26 Aug 2009 08:54 BST
After holding onto its land speed record for 103 years, the Stanley Steamer from the early days of motoring has finally been overtaken.
The British Steam Car team announced on Tuesday that, earlier in the day, in the two runs required to be considered for the record, their Steam Car average 139.843mph over a measured mile.
Tuesday's achievement still awaits official confirmation from the certifying agency, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.
The steam-powered mark to beat was 127mph, set in 1906 by Fred Marriott, driving the Stanley Steamer at Daytona Beach, Florida. (According to the FIA, the overall World Land Speed Record is 763mph, a supersonic speed reached in 1997 by a jet-powered car, the ThrustSSC.)
The British Steam Car, a project 10 years in the making, is no jet, but it does have its share of modern trappings, including carbon-fibre construction. The three-ton, 25-foot-long vehicle has 12 boilers, and its steam gets superheated to 400° Celsius before being injected into the turbine.
In each of its runs, the Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, travelled more than six miles on a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
On either side of the measured mile, it requires a 2.5-mile stretch for acceleration and deceleration. In going for the record, the vehicle had to make the second run within an hour of the first — the steam team says it made the turnaround Tuesday in 52 minutes.
The vehicle's peak speed in the first run was 136.103mph, and in the second, 151.085mph.
Credit: Steam Car team claims record run from CNET News
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