Confidence in Bluebird

Although Bluebird suffered sufficient damage during its accident to put it out of commission until next year, the designers state that the car stood up to the battering extremely well and the aluminium foil construction protected the driver during the car’s five bounces. Not a single gauge or instrument glass was cracked and the engine was still running, and none of the special Dunlop tyres had burst despite having a tread thickness of only 1/50th of an inch.

It was estimated that Bluebird was travelling at 365 m.p.h. when a gust of wind blew it on to a soft patch of salt, causing the car to skid for 300 yards. The car had reached 365 m.p.h. in 1.7 miles, which is believed, by the designers, to be the greatest acceleration yet achieved by a four-wheeled vehicle.