Oldies and Oddities: The Bonneville Jet Wars

A California hot-rodder took on the feuding Arfons brothers in the 1960s.

  • By Preston Lerner
  • Air & Space magazine, March 2009
View More Photos »
Spirit of America Sonic 1 Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America Sonic 1 employed the transonic area rule via its high-waisted fuselage. Area ruling, which reduces drag at transonic speeds, enabled the early 1960s Convair F-102 to reach Mach 1.2.

Courtesy Franklin Ratliff

Photo Gallery (1/7)

See more photos from the story


(Page 2 of 2)

In 1965, Breedlove was back, this time with a J79 in a new Spirit of America, dubbed Sonic I. Walt Arfons was back too, his Wingfoot Express now fitted with 25 jet-assisted-takeoff rockets. Although they propelled Arfons’ car to more than 400 mph, they couldn’t sustain that speed long enough for Arfons to challenge the record. But Breedlove clicked off a run of 555 mph to become the fastest man on wheels.

A week later, Art Arfons strapped himself back in Green Monster. During his second pass, a tire shred, but he emerged from the cockpit of his dented and smoking car with another record: 576 mph. A few days later, Breedlove went 600.601 mph, and he was immortalized in the Beach Boys song “Spirit of America” as “a daring young man [who] played a dangerous game.”

Cars have gone faster: In 1997, a British team broke the sound barrier with a speed of 763 mph, powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans, which powered  F-4M Phantom IIs. But land-speed racing has never been hotter than when cold war turbines were the coolest things at Bonneville.

n n n

 

General Electric’s J47 and J79 and Westinghouse’s J46 turbojets were designed for America’s high-flying cold war fighters and bombers. But during five weeks in the mid-1960s, they came down to Earth—taking the land-speed record from Britain and bringing it back to the United States.

The stage was Utah’s otherworldly Bonneville Salt Flats. The stars were two middle-aged Midwestern brothers who refused to talk to each other, and a slick young southern California hot-rodder who’d talk to anybody. By the time it was over, the three had raised the top speed by nearly 200 mph.

The jet-powered land-speed wars erupted in 1962, when three streamlined cars built around J47s—the engines used in North American F-86 Sabres—appeared on the flats. Physician Nathan Ostich, builder of the first jet car, took Flying Caduceus to 331 mph. Glenn Leasher got close to 400 mph but crashed fatally.

The third J47 driver, Los Angeles drag racer Craig Breedlove, picked up his engine for $500 and installed it in a low-slung, needle-nose chassis he called Spirit of America. He lined up Shell and Goodyear as sponsors and hired a team that included a Lockheed engineer. The next year, Breedlove screamed across the flats at 407 mph, claiming the land-speed record. (All speeds are the average of two runs in opposite directions along the measured mile.)

In 1964, Breedlove returned to Bonneville, this time facing competition. Walt and Art Arfons worked out of adjacent junk-strewn lots  in Akron, Ohio, separated by decades of estrangement. Independently, the brothers built two cars, each designed around a different jet engine.

Walt opted for a Westinghouse J46, used in the Vought F7U Cutlass. Although the Navy fighter was a dud, its engine measured up to Breedlove’s J47, and surplus versions were available for next to nothing. When his Wingfoot Express crashed during testing, Walt had a heart attack. Designer Tom Green, who’d never driven over 130 mph, was drafted as driver. On October 2, he reached 413 mph to claim the record.

Three days later, the newly crowned speed kings learned that their record had just been broken—by Art Arfons. His Green Monster was powered by a General Electric J79, the engine of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Art got it for $600 and rebuilt it himself after GE refused him a service manual.

One week after Art snatched the record from his brother, Breedlove took it away from Art. Trying to go even faster, Breedlove veered out of control at 500 mph, flew over a dike, and nosed into the water. Miraculously, he avoided drowning or being pulverized. Afterward, he joked, “And now for my next act, I’m going to set myself on fire.” Still, Art Arfons got the last laugh: After tweaking his engine, he returned to the salt and made a 536-mph run, demoting Breedlove to number two.

In 1965, Breedlove was back, this time with a J79 in a new Spirit of America, dubbed Sonic I. Walt Arfons was back too, his Wingfoot Express now fitted with 25 jet-assisted-takeoff rockets. Although they propelled Arfons’ car to more than 400 mph, they couldn’t sustain that speed long enough for Arfons to challenge the record. But Breedlove clicked off a run of 555 mph to become the fastest man on wheels.

A week later, Art Arfons strapped himself back in Green Monster. During his second pass, a tire shred, but he emerged from the cockpit of his dented and smoking car with another record: 576 mph. A few days later, Breedlove went 600.601 mph, and he was immortalized in the Beach Boys song “Spirit of America” as “a daring young man [who] played a dangerous game.”

Cars have gone faster: In 1997, a British team broke the sound barrier with a speed of 763 mph, powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans, which powered  F-4M Phantom IIs. But land-speed racing has never been hotter than when cold war turbines were the coolest things at Bonneville.

n n n

 


Single Page « Previous 1 2


 
Comments (10)

These cars had to have had custom seats, because you gotta have enormous brass balls to do what those crazy guys did.

Posted by Kevin Seiler on January 26,2009 | 05:42 PM

I believe you should note that the last American to set the World Land Speed Record was Gary Gabelich driving the natural gas industry's LNG-fueled rocket car, The Blue Flame, in 1970. It also was the last World Land Speed Record set on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah at 630.388 mph.

Posted by Richard Keller on January 27,2009 | 10:51 AM

You should be advised that there is a group in Wash. St. that is using a modified F-104 to attempt to reach 800 mph. The North American Eagle is being designed as it is being built. they are using aluminum wheels and magnetic breaking.
They have already exceded 400 mph and are hoping to go all the way this season.

their website is www.landspeed.com/intro.html

Posted by Don Bartram on February 1,2009 | 06:30 PM

Regarding the Beach Boys SPIRIT of AMERICA and Breedlove's attempts:
The song's lyrics -
"With a J47, a jet for his power,
Craig Breedlove set the record -
407 miles per hour".
So they were not "immortalizing" him for the 1965, 601 mph record run - it was earlier run. In the interest of accuracy. Thanks for a great article.

Posted by Ned Hood on February 4,2009 | 05:46 PM

Gary gabelich's record was actually 622.407. The average of two runs. I believe 630.388 was the faster of the two.

Posted by Terrence O'Brien on February 17,2009 | 12:08 AM

This is a story about Jet engine vehicles. Where does Gabelich figure into this?

Posted by Vasya on August 16,2010 | 10:15 AM

There's a new book out on this topic: "Speed Duel: The Inside Story of the Land Speed Record in the Sixities." It is mainly about the rivalry between Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons for the land speed record, but also covers the other contenders: Walt Arfons/Tom Green, Glenn Leasher and "Infinity," Nathan Ostich and "Flying Caducues," etc. You might also want to check out the "Land Speed Record" section of my website, www.samuelhawley.com

Posted by Sam Hawley on February 9,2011 | 01:18 PM

I had the pleasure of meeting Glenn Leasher and crew at John's Drive-in in San Jose, California where they had pulled in (with the Infinity in tow) to have lunch. Seeing the "Infinity" parked on the lot brought 4-lanes of traffic on the Alemeda to a crawl. Glenn spent the afternoon and evening at the drive-in signing autographs, talking to patrons and promoting their appearance at the Fremont Drag Strip the next day. Photos of Glenn and the Infinity at John's and at the Fremont Drag Strip are contained in the link below:

http://jim-satcher.com/jetdragsterinfinity.html

Posted by Jim Satcher on August 18,2011 | 04:29 AM

Regarding Terrance O'Brien's comment on the 630.388 mph record of The Blue Flame - the 622.407 mph was the record for the flying start mie - 630.388 mph was the record for the flying start kilometer. The world land speed record is the fastest world record recognized by the FIA - 630.388 mph in 1970. The kilometer record was not broken by Thrust 2 jet car, but in 1997 - after 27 years - by the jet-powered Thrust SSC. How do I know this? Pete Farnsworth and I owned, designed, and built The Blue Flame.

Posted by Richard Keller on April 7,2012 | 12:48 PM

Post a Comment


Name: (required)

Email: (required)

Comment:

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.



Advertisement


Advertisement


Follow Us

Snapshot

Off to the Races

This Lockheed Lightning is ready to go.

Reader Scrapbook

Discovery's Tail-Cone Fitting

Check out our scrapbook of readers' aviation and space pictures. Then add your own.

Smithsonian Store

Smithsonian Journeys