We love cars for their comfort, reliability, and, of course, their speed. Today, we’ll tell you about speed records set by cars. Of course, not the cars you can buy in a Florida showroom, although you can find real gems of American muscle cars there. But by high-speed racing cars. They are designed and manufactured specifically to conquer new frontiers. These technologies are then applied in the automotive industry. So, let’s remember how humans conquered speed.
Electric Attack
It is known that the first record for a car with an internal combustion engine (up to 19 mph) belongs to the French engineer and racing driver Émile Levassor. He set it in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race in 1895. But the organizers didn’t bother to officially register the record.
The first officially recorded speed record is believed to be 63.149 km/h (about 39.2 mph). This record was set by the Frenchman Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubatz. On December 18, 1898, he achieved this record in an electric car designed by Charles Jeanteau. However, it was only over a distance of 1 km (0.6 miles).
The next milestone, the 60-mile mark, was reached on April 29, 1899, by Belgian Camille Jenatzy, again in an electric car. His car, named “La Jamais Contente” (French for “Always Dissatisfied”), with a 67-horsepower engine, reached a speed of 105.876 km/h (65.576 mph).
It took designers and racers more than ten years to reach the next 100-kilometer mark.
Finally, in 1911, Robert Burman, an American racer, reached the 200-kilometer mark. In a Blitzen Benz (Lightning Benz), the speedometer showed 228.04 km/h (140.576 mph). Burman’s triumph highlighted the rising dominance of American drivers in speed records – a legacy that lives on today at Florida car lots like Autoland Jacksonville, where you can find high-performance used American muscle cars ready to deliver thrilling acceleration on the open road.
Engineers at the Limit
Another 16 years passed before the 300 km/h (186 mph) mark was broken. In 1927, Briton Henry Seagrave, in a Sunbeam 1000 hp, achieved 327.89 km/h (207.58 mph).
The record-breaking performance only got better. Another British pilot, Malcolm Campbell, was the first to break the 400 km/h (256 mph) barrier. In 1932, he recorded 408.63 km/h (258.58 mph) in his Napier-Campbell.
The 500 km/h (311 mph) barrier was broken five years later by racing driver, engineer, and inventor George Eyston, also from Britain, in a Rolls-Royce Eyston (311.58 mph).
Luxury and Balance
It took over thirty years for the first person to see a racing car’s speedometer surpass the incredible 1,000-kilometer mark on October 23, 1970. That person was American Harry Gabelich in the rocket-powered car “Blue Flame.” This remarkable achievement occurred on the Bonneville Salt Flats, with the record-holder achieving an average speed of 1,014.3 km/h (628.5 mph). It’s worth noting that “Blue Flame” was 11.3 meters long and weighed 2,250 kg (5,000 lbs).
The speed of sound was officially surpassed for the first time by Briton Andy Green on September 25, 1997. In the Black Rock Desert (Nevada, USA), he reached an unprecedented speed of 700.5 mph in the rocket-powered car “Thrust SSC.”
It would seem that what could be faster? But Green thought differently. And on October 15, 1997, he set the current speed record for a car (and any land-based controlled vehicle) – 750 mph! The setting was the same as three weeks earlier – the Thrust SSC, the Back Rock Desert. The 21-kilometer track was marked out on a dry lake bed. This car had two supercharged Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines that made a whopping 109,500 horsepower, letting it hit 620 mph in just 16 seconds!
Who is faster than the wind?
The fastest (relatively speaking) production passenger car was the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. On September 2, 2019, at the Ehra-Lessen test track in Germany, it set a speed record for a production car: 490.484 km/h (305.217 mph). However, the creators of the Swedish hypercar Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut may dispute this. Its claimed top speed is reportedly 531 km/h (331 mph).
Speed records are generally set in many categories. Among diesel cars, among sedans and SUVs, on ice. But these are the absolute achievements that capture our attention. Speed record holders like these beasts belong on race tracks and salt flats, where they can push the absolute limits safely. But for average drivers and connoisseurs of luxury, style, and speed, Florida dealerships offer plenty of thrilling options – from powerful American muscle to refined performers – that deliver excitement every day without the need for a desert runway.
