The Record

Fred Marriott set the Land Speed Record for steam engines of 127.659 MPH. He drove a steam powered car built by the Stanley Brothers and nicknamed the “Rocket”. This record was set in 1906 on the Florida sands of Ormand Beach.

In 1985 one of the Lear turbines found its way into a car which had been brought to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, USA for an attempt at the steam powered Land Speed record. Over the course of several years the car progressed from 110 MPH to a measured speed of 145.607 MPH. This was the official speed set by Bob Barber but was not recognized by the FIA. The British Steam Car team always recognized this speed as the record to emulate.

Fred Marriott’s mark for the steam land speed record, which had become the longest-standing record, was officially broken more than 100 years later in August 2009. Driver Charles Burnett III, of the “Inspiration” team recorded an average speed of 139.843 mph (225.06 km/h) at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The next day Don Wales ran the car and set the current Land Speed Record for steam engines at 148.308 mph. Using a modified jet turbine that took 10 years to complete, the Brits took Marriott’s 100 year old record by a slim margin.