Editing Donald Campbell (section)

== Land speed record attempt ==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2019}}
[[File:1962 Bluebird Campbell CN7.JPG|thumb|left|''Bluebird CN7'' on display at the [[National Motor Museum, Beaulieu|National Motor Museum]] in Beaulieu.]]

It was after the Lake Mead water speed record success in 1955 that the seeds of Campbell's ambition to hold the [[land speed record]] as well were planted. The following year, the serious planning was under way&nbsp;— to build a car to break the land speed record, which then stood at {{Convert|394|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} set by John Cobb in 1947. The Norris brothers designed ''[[Bluebird-Proteus CN7]]'' with {{Convert|500|mph|abbr=on}} in mind.

The British motor industry, in the guise of [[Dunlop Rubber|Dunlop]], [[BP]], [[Smiths Industries]], [[Lucas Automotive]], Rubery Owen as well as many others, became heavily involved in the project to build the most advanced car the world had yet seen. CN7 was powered by a specially modified [[Bristol Proteus|Bristol-Siddeley Proteus]] [[Free-turbine turboshaft|free-turbine]] engine of {{Convert|4450|shp|abbr=on}} driving all four wheels. ''Bluebird CN7'' was designed to achieve 475–500&nbsp;mph and was completed by the spring of 1960.

Following low-speed tests conducted at the [[Goodwood Circuit|Goodwood]] motor racing circuit in [[Sussex]], in July, the ''CN7'' was taken to the [[Bonneville Salt Flats]] in Utah, United States, scene of his father's last land speed record triumph, some 25 years earlier in September 1935. The trials initially went well, and various adjustments were made to the car. On the sixth run in CN7, Campbell lost control at over 360&nbsp;mph and crashed. It was the car's tremendous structural integrity that saved his life. He was hospitalised with a fractured skull and a burst eardrum, as well as minor cuts and bruises, but ''CN7'' was a write-off. Almost immediately, Campbell announced he was determined to have another go. Sir [[Alfred Owen]], whose [[Rubery Owen]] industrial group had built CN7, offered to rebuild it for him. That single decision was to have a profound influence on the rest of Campbell's life. His original plan had been to break the land speed record at over 400&nbsp;mph in 1960, return to Bonneville the following year to really bump up the speed to something near to 500&nbsp;mph, get his seventh water speed record with K7 and then retire.

Campbell decided not to go back to Utah for the new trials. He felt the Bonneville course was too short at {{Convert|11|mi|adj=on}} and the salt surface was in poor condition. BP offered to find another venue and eventually after a long search, [[Lake Eyre]], in South Australia, was chosen. It hadn't rained there for nine years and the vast dry bed of the salt lake offered a course of up to {{Convert|20|mi|adj=on}}. By the summer of 1962, ''Bluebird CN7'' was rebuilt, some nine months later than Campbell had hoped. It was essentially the same car, but with the addition of a large stabilising tail fin and a reinforced fibreglass cockpit cover. At the end of 1962, ''CN7'' was shipped out to Australia ready for the new attempt. Low-speed runs had just started when the rains came. The course was compromised and further rain meant, that by May 1963, Lake Eyre was flooded to a depth of 3 inches, causing the attempt to be abandoned. Campbell was heavily criticised in the press for alleged time wasting and mismanagement of the project, despite the fact that he could hardly be held responsible for the unprecedented weather.

To make matters worse for Campbell, American [[Craig Breedlove]] drove his pure thrust jet car "[[Spirit of America (automobile)|Spirit of America]]" to a speed of {{Convert|407.45|mph}} at Bonneville in July 1963. Although the "car" did not conform to [[FIA]] (Federation Internationale de L'Automobile) regulations, that stipulated it had to be wheel-driven and have a minimum of four wheels, in the eyes of the world, Breedlove was now the fastest man on Earth.

Campbell returned to Australia in March 1964, but the Lake Eyre course failed to fulfil the early promise it had shown in 1962 and there were further spells of rain. BP pulled out as his main sponsor after a dispute, but he was able to secure backing from Australian oil company [[Ampol]].

The track never properly dried out and Campbell was forced to make the best of the conditions. Finally, in July 1964, he was able to post some speeds that approached the record. On the 17th of that month, he took advantage of a break in the weather and made two courageous runs along the shortened and still damp track, posting a new land speed record of {{Convert|403.10|mph|abbr=on}}. The surreal moment was captured in a number of well-known images by photographers, including Australia's Jeff Carter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2014/07/on-this-day-world-land-speed-record-broken|title=On this day: World Land Speed Record broken|date=17 July 2014 |access-date=23 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223070143/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2014/07/on-this-day-world-land-speed-record-broken|archive-date=23 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Campbell was bitterly disappointed with the record as the vehicle had been designed for much higher speeds. ''CN7'' covered the final third of the measured mile at an average of {{Convert|429|mph|abbr=on}}, peaking as it left the measured distance at over {{Convert|440|mph|abbr=on}}. He resented the fact that it had all been so difficult. "We've made it&nbsp;— we got the bastard at last," was his reaction to the success. Campbell's 403.1&nbsp;mph represented the official land speed record.

In 1969, after Campbell's fatal accident, his widow, Tonia Bern-Campbell negotiated a deal with Lynn Garrison, president of Craig Breedlove and Associates, that would see [[Craig Breedlove]] run ''Bluebird'' on Bonneville's Salt Flats. This concept was cancelled when the parallel Spirit of America supersonic car project failed to find support.

[[File:Model of Donald Campbell Bluebird used in Breedlove promotion.png|thumb|Model of Donald Campbell ''Bluebird'' used in Breedlove promotion]]