The History of Speed

THE HISTORY OF LAND

HUMBERTO PORTILLO

DAWN OF MANKIND - 300,000 yrs ago Jump 300,000 years later and Humans haven’t increased much in speed but there has been some progress. Currently - 10–15 mph the world record for the fastest man is held by Usain Bolt, he has reached 27.44 mph or 12.21 meters per second.

To put that into perspective, the average length of a school bus is 9.1 meters, which means Usain Bolt can run more than the length of an entire bus in one second.

300,000 yrs ago

200,000 yrs ago

THE HISTORY OF LAND SPEED By definition, speed is the rate at which someone or something is able to move or operate. Although correct, it is very common for someone to define speed as something achieving high speed. The definition of what high speed is has changed drastically throughout human history. Very few people have had the opportunity to experience going 200 or more miles per hour, however, we all have experienced at some point of our lives the feeling of speed. Speed is best known by its emotional response—A combination of fear and excitement. To many, speed is something to avoid because it brings them fear, but there are others that push the boundaries to find their speed limit, if they have one.

For more than 200,000 years, humans were limited to as fast as they could run. However, in the span of 200 years, thanks to advancements in technology, we went from running speeds to breaking the sound barrier.

Speed has become one of mankinds greatest commodities, from the very first experiments to achieve the highest land speed, till present day, we continue to push the definition of high speed. To go 40 mph was once the pinnacle of human achievement, but now it is a commodity that anyone can experience when they jump into a vehicle. Perhaps our perception of what is fast changed, but our pursuit of speed has not, and as long as technology continues to keep up with our drive, we will continue to push the speed limit.

100,000 yrs ago

HORSE IS DOMESTICATED - 6,000 yrs ago - 30+ mph

The fastest horses today are Thoroughbred racehorses, and the world record for the fastest horse is 43.93mph. Horse racing has become a huge sport and a winning horse can be worth millions. In 2000, a horse named Fusaichi Pegasus was purchased by the Emir of Dubai for $64 million. Although, Fusaichi was the most expensive horse he was not the most successful. The best racing horse was a horse from 1874 named Kincsem from Hungary, he raced in 54 different races, in five different countries, and won every single one. Kincsem finished his career undefeated and continues to hold his position on top till this day.

SKIS ARE INVENTED - 5,000 yrs ago - 10–20 mph

Long before skiing was considered a sport, prehistoric man was using skis for a much different purpose. Cave drawings, thousands of years old can be found in different parts of the world depicting images of ancient skiers holding nothing but a weapon in hand as they go down a slope in chase of big game. Thousands of years later that primitive way of hunting is now only known as a sport. Speed skiing is a sport where the only goal is to achieve the highest speed possible on a downhill slope. Skiers regularly exceed 125 mph as they go down the slope and the world record held by Ivan Origone was clocked at 153.530mph. An amazing achievement considering where it all began.

4,000 yrs ago: Woolly Mammoth goes extinct

10,000 yrs ago

1,000 yrs ago

FIRST STEAM POWERED LOCOMOTIVE - 1803 - 5 mph

Created by Richard Trevithick it was called the Coalbrookdale locomotive and it was powered by a high-pressure steam engine.

It was built by the Coalbrookdale company for Trevithick and unfortunately, very little information exisits about it. Some even question wether it actually ran or not and this image is the best information that exisits of its design because no plans for it’s construction have survived. However, working replicas have been constructed from these images but what was discovered was that the Coalbrookdale was extremely dangerous to operate. Trevithick would later come to refine his engine design and improve their safety, but he evntually was over taken by rival engineers and their designs.

476 AD: Fall of the Roman Empire

500 AD

1607: Settlers arrive to North America

1500

1800

LOCOMOTION NO.1 - 1825 - 15 mph

Built by Robert Stephenson and it was powered by a steam engine and had a maximum top speed of 15 mph.

It was the first steam locomotive to pull a passenger train on a public railway and was in service from 1825–1857.

However, in 1828 the boiler exploded and killed it’s driver, it was rebuilt but the train soon became obsolete. A decade after the accident it was converted into a stationary engine where it would stay till it’s retirement in 1857.

STEPHENSON’S ROCKET - 1830 - 30 mph

1820

1830

Also built by Robert Stephenson this was the train that made the Locomotion No.1 obsolete. In fact this train was so well engineered that it became the template for most steam engines for the next 150 years.

1840

B & ER LOCOMOTIVE NO.44 - 1854 - 82 mph

1850

Also known as the 4-2-4T, it represents the wheel arrangement of the train. Four leading wheels on two axles, two massive 9 foot powered wheels on one axle, and four trailing wheels on two axles. This wheel arrangement was used primarily on tank locomotives, which basically means the locomotive carries it’s own on-board water tanks.

1860

1870

FIRST PRODUCTION VEHICLE: BENZ VELO - 1886 - 1.5 hp - 15 mph

Certainly not the fastest car in history but it was definetly the first to make it into mass production. Built by Carl Benz, it sold for 2,000 marks which in todays money is equivalent to $34,000 US dollars. The Velo was an instant success and he sold over 1,200 of them which allowed Carl Benz to create a car company that would eventually be called Mercedes Benz.

JEANTAUD Built by Charles Jeantaud, a french body builder who had been building electric cars since 1881.

The most famous of which was the Jeantaud because of its record setting speed of 39.24 mph. It’s amazing to think that at one point 40 mph was a land speed record.

- 1898 - 36 hp - 39.24 mph

1901: First Speed limit enacted in the United States—12 mph

1880

1890

1900

STANLEY ROCKET - 1906 - 127.659 mph

GOBRON-BRILLIÈ - 1904 - 110 hp - 103.561 mph

From 1904–1930 the Gobron was the world’s fastest production vehicle. Manufactured by the Societé de Moteurs Gobron-Brillié, a french company, it was powered by a masive 13.5 liter engine. By comparison, a modern day Lamborghini doesn’t even pass 7 liters. Of course, a Lamborghini is much faster now but, for it’s time, it was an engineering marvel.

Built by the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, it was one of the one of the last steam powered land speed vehicles to succesfully compete. Driven by Fred Marriot, it successfully completed a top speed run at Daytona Beach Road Course where it achieved 127.659 mph.

The following year in 1907, they had attempted to break there own record with an improved version of the car but at 140–150 mph the car hit a pothole which launched it into the air and breaking in half upon impact. Marriot survived the crash but after the accident he no longer made attempts to break the record.

1910

SUNBEAM 1000HP - 1927 - 900 hp - 203.79 mph

Also known as the ‘The Slug’, it was built by Sunbeam company and it was powered by two, 22.4 liter plane engines.

It was the first car to break the 200 mph barrier and although the name suggests that it had 1000 horsepower, in actuality it was closer to 900 horsepower.

BLUE BIRD - 1935 - 2,300 hp - 301.337 mph

1920

1930

8 years after the the Sunbeam 1000HP broke the 200 mph for the first time, the Blue Bird came and completely destroyed every land speed record up until that point. Similar to many land speed cars it was powered by a huge 36.7 liter plane engine that produced 2,300 horsepower.

1950

PROTEUS CN7 - 1964 - 4,450 shp - 403.1 mph

Constructed by Motor Panels, this vehicle is powered by a gas turbine engine that on the July 17, 1964, broke the 400 mph barrier. An amazing feat without a doubt but driver Donald Campbell was dissapointed with the result because the vehicle was designed to go 500 mph.

SPIRIT OF AMERICA - Nov 2, 1964 - 15,000 hp - 608.2 mph

Just months after Donald Cambel had broken the 400mph barrier inside the Proteus CN7, Breedlove inside the the Spirit of America came and quite literally zoomed past his record. Thanks to the engine from a F-86 jet fighter producing 15,000 horsepower, Craig Breedlove became the first man to break the 600 mph barrier in a land speed vehicle.

1969: Highest Speed Ever Achived by Humans— Apollo 10 Lunar Module falls through Earths atmosphere at 24,791 mph

1960

BLUE FLAME - 1970 - 35,000 hp - 630.3 mph

Built by a wisconsin company called Reaction Dynamics, it used a hydrogen peroxide powered rocket to get Gary Gabelich past the every previous record and all the way to 630 mph.

THRUST2 - 1983 - 650.88 mph

1970

Powered by a single Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine, the Thrust2 in 1983, took it’s driver, Richard Noble to 650 mph. Created

by John Ackroyd, he actually designed with space for two allwing the driver and a passenger to take a trip to 600 mph.

The reason for that was to distribute the weight evenly, since having the engine in the middle and the driver on the side would very slightly un-balance the vehicle.

Although, they did not use a passenger for the record run, they did however, use a bag of patatoes for one of the practice runs. If that’s not enough the whole project began with only a budget of £175 ($190).

THRUST SSC - 1997 - 102,000 hp - 763 mph

1990

Quite literally a grounded jet, the Thrust SSC is powered by two massive Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans, producing an equivalent of 102,000 horsepower.

The Thrust SSC and its driver Andy Green are the only ones to officially break the sound barrier on land, a record that to this day remains unbroken.

Present & Future

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