Malcolm Campbell | Biography, Records, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

Quick Facts

In full:

Sir Malcolm Campbell

Born:

March 11, 1885, Chislehurst, Kent [now in Greater London], England

Died:

December 31, 1948, Reigate, Surrey

News •

Malcolm Campbell (born March 11, 1885, Chislehurst, Kent [now in Greater London], England—died December 31, 1948, Reigate, Surrey) was a British automobile-racing driver who set world speed records on land and on water.

A pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, Campbell became interested in automobile racing. From 1924, when he attained 146.16 miles (235.22 km) per hour, through 1935, he established world land-speed records on nine occasions. On September 3, 1935, at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, his automobile was timed at 301.1292 miles (484.62 km) per hour, the first officially clocked land-vehicle performance exceeding 300 miles (483 km) per hour.

In 1937 Sir Malcolm captured the world’s water-speed record at 129.5 miles (208.41 km) per hour. In 1938 on Lake Hallwil in Switzerland, he raised the record to 130.93 miles per hour, and finally, on August 19, 1939, on Coniston Water in Lancashire, he set the record of 141.74 miles (228.11 km) per hour that he held when he died. His son Donald Malcolm Campbell set subsequent land- and water-speed records.

Britannica Quiz Indianapolis 500 Quiz

Each of Campbell’s racing cars and hydroplanes was named Bluebird, for the play L’Oiseau bleu (“The Bluebird”) by the Belgian dramatist Maurice Maeterlinck. Campbell was knighted in 1931.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.