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Hawley, a Canadian historian, brings the highest standards to bear on the often-told but still inspiring story.--Kevin A. Wilson"AutoWeek" (11/22/2010)
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Until the 1950s, the land speed record (LSR) was held by a series of European gentlemen racers such as British driver John Cobb, who hit 394 miles per hour in 1947. That record held for more than a decade, until the car culture swept the U.S. Hot-rodders and drag racers built and souped up racers using car engines, piston aircraft engines and, eventually, jet engines. For this determined and dedicated group, the LSR was no longer an honour to be held by rich aristocrats with industrial backing - it was brought stateside. In the summer of 1960, the contest moved into overdrive, with eight men contending for the record on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Some men died in horrific crashes, others prudently retired, and by middecade only two men were left driving: Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove. By 1965, Arfons and Breedlove had walked away from some of the most spectacular wipeouts in motor sport history and pushed the record up to 400, then 500, then 600 miles per hour. Speed Duel is the fast-paced history of their rivalry. Despite the abundant heart-stopping action, Speed Duel is foremost a human drama. Says author Samuel Hawley, It is a quintessential American tale in the tradition of The Right Stuff, except that it is not about extraordinary men doing great things in a huge government program. It's about ordinary men doing extraordinary things in their back yards.A"
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A breathtaking subject, describing the last great hurrah of the LSR, but let down by over-hype and inaccuracy. It's just as easy surely to get it right, so why so much hearsay, particularly about Campbell, creeps in is beyond me. The photograph's section could have been great, but instead we are let down by the size of the images, lack of colour and inaccurate captions.
Buy it for the story it tell's but this is not the gospel. Still glad I bought it though!
Buy it for the story it tell's but this is not the gospel. Still glad I bought it though!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Great history of the many US attempts during the '60s, especially the lesser-known and sometimes fatal.
Huge bias against Donald Campbell though. Although the FIA and Breedlove always recognised his record, this book is so grudging towards him it's nearly as bad as Wikipedia.
Huge bias against Donald Campbell though. Although the FIA and Breedlove always recognised his record, this book is so grudging towards him it's nearly as bad as Wikipedia.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I was first given this book I was underwhelmed, "not another book on the Land Speed record", I thought. This one is slightly different, it focuses on the era 1960 - 1965, the rise of the Americans, the jet car and the hot rodders. I learned very little from the book yet was gripped as the narrative is enthusiastic and reminded me, a chartered engineer in a computer generated, computer tested, computer controlled, sterile era why I went into the profession; these guys were more than a little bit mad but they had fun (spelled F-U-N not HS&E). The tales of Art Arfons have taken me back to my childhood when as a 7 year old I became hooked on the speed record, in those days I was in awe of anybody strapping themselves into a car powered by a jet or rocket. Having read the book I'm in awe again but this time at a bloke who took a 1950s Lincoln front axle, a 1950s Dodge truck rear axle, strapped them to a crude chassis, slapped on a jet salvaged from a scrap heap, added an afterburner, dressed it in a weird body and then drove it to 600mph! Or what about Craig Breedlove having to build his car, literally, in the middle of the 1960s race riots? I said I didn't learn anything from it, well that's not quite true, to read an American's perspective on Donald Campbell, jolly good chap, a true Brit and all that, was refreshing, he really was a corporate dullard compared to the Yanks.
Good book, loved it!
Good book, loved it!
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