Speed Ace Donald Campbell

Born in 1921, the Speed Ace Donald Campbell was Britain’s blue-eyed boy of World Water Speed Record-breaking in the 1950s. His matinee idol looks brought glamour to the grey years of post-War austerity. His Bluebird K7 encapsulated the technological promise of the Festival of Britain. And between 1955 and 1959 he broke the outright World Water Speed Record on six separate occasions, four of them on Coniston Water. These were the golden years, when Fortune smiled on him.

In the 1960s, he turned his attention to the World Land Speed Record, once monopolised by his father, Sir Malcolm Campbell. In 1960 he had a disastrous crash at Utah which had a permanent effect on his physical and mental health.

donald campbell

The Double

It was 1964, in Australia, before he was able to make another – and this time successful – run, which he followed by raising the World Water Speed Record to 276.33 mph on Lake Dumbleyung in Western Australia, on the very last day of the year. He may have cut it fine, but he remains the only person to have broken both the World Land and World Water Speed Records in the same year. The achievement is unlikely to be equalled.

1964 should have been his annus mirabilis, but, somehow, his unique and inimitable double success was never registered by the British public.

The press had turned against him, finding land and water speed records distinctly passe now Man was in space. And, anyway, the Americans had gone much faster on land in rocket-powered vehicles, even if they weren’t wheel-driven : the rules were too old-fashioned, too nonsensical. Campbell was an anachronism

Bluebird K7 – One Last Time

He didn’t believe that. He was determined to play the Americans at their own game by developing a supersonic, rocket-powered but wheel-driven car, which would not only take the World Land Speed Record to a new level but also demonstrate that British technology and expertise remained unbeatable. To raise the necessary sponsorship and financial backing, he decided to use his trusty old war-horse, Bluebird K7, one last time, to take the World Water Speed Record past 300 mph.

In spite of warnings from the ever faithful and indispensable Leo Villa, engineer and mechanic extraordinaire – that he must remember that K7 was already eleven years old, that she had been designed for an ultimate top speed of 250 mph and that she had broken an unheard-of seven World Records to date Donald Campbell resolved to return again to Coniston, the scene of so many past triumphs.

Bluebird K7 – The Final Run

He came in November 1966. He brought a re-engined K7, more powerful on paper, theoretically capable of 300 mph on water. Technical problems with the boat and the terrible weather led some people to believe there was a jinx on him. The press lost patience, preferred to insinuate that he had lost his nerve, rather than admit they were tired of being cold and wet, and sadistically racked up the pressure. Campbell found hidden depths of moral courage. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The footage of the crash is one of the most iconic and easily recognised film sequences of the 20th century. On 4 January 1967, Donald Campbell and Bluebird K7 were catapulted into legend. The Speed Ace died in the sublimely tragic manner of the hero of a Greek drama, or of an Icelandic saga, and instantaneously joined that select band of folk heroes which includes Captain Scott and Sir Edmund Hillary, who set out to achieve the seemingly impossible.

World Speed Records Established by Donald Campbell

202.32 mph (325.60 km/h)   Water    Bluebird K7 Ullswater 23 July 1955

216.20 mph (347.94 km/h)   Water    Bluebird K7   Lake Mead 16 November 1955

225.63 mph (363.12 km/h)   Water    Bluebird K7   Coniston Water 19 September 1956

239.07 mph (384.75 km/h)    Water   Bluebird K7   Coniston Water    7 November 1957

248.62 mph (400.12 km/h)    Water   Bluebird  K7   Coniston Water   10 November 1958

260.35 mph (418.99 km/h)    Water   Bluebird K7    Coniston Water    14 May 1959

276.33 mph (444.71 km/h)    Water   Bluebird K7    Lake Dumbleyung 31 December 1964

403.10 mph (648.73 km/h)    Land     Bluebird CN7  Lake Eyre 17 July 1964