Pendine Beach, Carmarthen, Wales, UK. 21st July, 2015. Don Wales, Sir Malcolm Campbell’s grandson, posing by the Sunbeam Blue Bird racing car. 2015 celebrates the 90th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell achieving a new World Land Speed record of 150mph at Pendine Sands, South Wales, in his 350hp Sunbeam. Credit: Daniel Valla FRPS/Alamy Live News
2015 celebrates the 90th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell achieving a new World Land Speed record of 150mph at Pendine Sands, South Wales, in his 350hp Sunbeam. Ninety years to the day, the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, is marking the occasion with a commemorative low-speed demonstration run with the Sunbeam, back at Pendine Sands. The run took place at 4pm on 21 July, starting from the area of the beach adjacent to the Pendine Museum of Speed. The car was driven by Sir Malcolm’s grandson, Don Wales, himself a Land Speed Record holder. In addition to performing the run, he and the museum team was aiming to re-create two iconic pictures from the original run. Don said: 'Driving the 350hp Sunbeam, which is the car that gave my grandfather his first Land Speed Record was a great experience. I cannot believe that I got this fantastic opportunity to drive this iconic machine on Pendine. It was also great fun to dress in costume to look as my grandfather did in the pictures taken ninety years ago. “My grandfather was a remarkable man and for us to remember him and honour some of his achievements in this way will be very humbling. I really must thank Beaulieu for this opportunity and for all the hard work the restoration team have done on her.' The car was the brainchild of Sunbeam’s chief engineer and racing team manager, Louis Coatalen, and was constructed at the company’s works in Wolverhampton during 1919 and early 1920. Its power came from a modified litre V12 modified Manitou Arab aero engine, a type used on naval seaplanes. The Sunbeam, renamed Blue Bird by Campbell, holds three World Land Speed Records, the first achieved by Kenelm Lee Guinness at Brooklands in 1922 with a speed of Campbell then purchased the car, had it painted in his distinctive colour scheme and in September 1924 achieved a new record speed of at Pendine, raising it the following year to
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire, Wals, UK
Photo credit: © Daniel Valla FRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 150mph, 152736_bluebird, 90th, anniversary, bird, blue, bluebird, campbell, car, don, historical, malcolm, pendine, racing, record, run, sands, sir, speed, sunbeam, uk, wales
