[Tennessee Slim]

The current record, I kid you not, was set in 1906 in a Stanley Steamer.

British supercar that's known as the fastest kettle in the world

By Laura Powell
Last updated at 12:55 PM on 05th April 2009

If you believed the golden age of steam was in the dim and distant past, think again.

This streamlined British supercar that went on a test run at a military airstrip near Chichester last week is about to attempt to smash one of the world's most enduring records, the highest speed for a steam-driven car.

Known as the 'World's Fastest Kettle', the car is being shipped to America where driver Charles Burnett III will make the record attempt across a dried-up lake bed in the Mojave Desert of Southern California in early June.

The steam-car record of 127.659mph was set by American Fred Marriott in 1906 in a machine called the Stanley Steamer.

He tried to break his record a year later but the car hit a rut, flew into the air and shattered when it hit the ground. Marriott was injured and did not make another attempt.

His landmark has remained unchallenged ever since and is the longest-standing officially recognised speed record.

In the early 1900s, steam cars far outsold petrol-driven vehicles because they were faster and more reliable.

But by the time the Stanley Motor Carriage Company ceased operation in 1924, the internal combustion engine had far eclipsed steam technology and the $3,950 Stanley Steamer cost almost eight times as much as the bestselling Ford Model T.

The new car bears little resemblance to the Stanley Steamer. It is made of a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre composite and aluminium wrapped round a steel chassis and took ten years to develop.

Behind the wheel was Don Wales, the 48-year-old nephew of British speed legend Donald Campbell and grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, who also broke land and water records.

Wales said: 'The car is so powerful, you can feel the immense force of it. It was just itching to get away.'

However, Charles Burnett III, nephew of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, who founded the National Motor Museum in the New Forest, will drive the car in the record attempt at Rogers Dry Lake Bed, near Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Burnett is already in the Guinness Book Of World Records after setting an offshore water speed record of 137mph ten years ago....

[Tennessee Slim]

Steam-powered car breaks century-old speed record
* 15:31 25 August 2009 by Max Glaskin


The "world's fastest kettle" makes an earlier attempt
at a speed record in California

The land speed record for steam-powered cars has been broken for the first time in more than 100 years, after a British-built car achieved an average speed of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour) on Tuesday.

Many of the earliest road vehicles were powered by steam, which were easier and safer to start than early gas-powered cars, which had to be cranked by hand. But by the 1920s, the convenience of the internal combustion engine had essentially made steam cars obsolete.

Now, Charles Burnett III has driven them back into the spotlight. He reached speeds of 219 km/hr (136 mph) and 243 km/hr (151 mph) during two drives at California's Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday.

That smashes the previous official record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) set in 1906 by Fred Marriott of the US in a modified version of the then-popular steam car known as the Stanley Steamer. Officials from motor sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), are expected to ratify the new record shortly.

Superheated steam

Burnett drove a 7.6-metre-long, 3-tonne car called "Inspiration" that grew out of a 1997 student project at Southampton University.

The car's engine burns liquid petroleum gas to heat water in 12 suitcase-sized boilers, creating steam heated to 400°C. The steam then drives a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 revolutions per minute to power its wheels.

The FIA requires two 1.6-km-long runs to be performed in opposite directions – to cancel out any effect from wind – within 60 minutes.

Ramp up

Inspiration made the first run at 0727 PDT (1427 GMT) and turned around for the return run with just eight minutes to spare. Before and after each timed run, it took 4 km to accelerate and another 4 km to slow down.

The record-setting drives came after several earlier attempts had been thwarted by electrical faults, valve problems, a storm and a tyre puncture the previous week. But the team is planning another run on Wednesday, to try to get even closer to the car's theoretical top speed of 274 km/hr (170 mph).

Various groups are trying to develop new steam cars, but none have yet found an efficient way to convert the fuel's energy into forward motion.