THE SANDS OF TIME

Malcolm Campbell achieved a world record 150mph in this car on this beach. Ninety years on, his grandson re-enacted the remarkable event

WORDS David Lillywhite // PHOTOGRAPHY Matthew Howell

OUR FEET ARE slowly sinking into the wet sand and the wind is whistling around us. It’s exactly 90 years to the day since Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the Land Speed Record at 150.87mph on this very beach, and we’re wondering if the conditions will allow the planned re-enactment. Doug Hill, chief engineer of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, where Campbell’s Sunbeam 350hp ‘Blue Bird’ lives, is looking in bemusement at the queue of cars making its way down the slipway to park on the beach. He hadn’t expected many spectators. The locals reckon there could be as many as 3000 here… Ian ‘Stan’ Stansfield, Beaulieu senior engineer, is fussing over the engine. The biggest threat to its longevity will be overheating. Don Wales, grandson of Sir Malcolm, would, I’m sure, be…

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Octane (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 1, 2015

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