There was nothing easy about being a record setter in the 1960s and Donald Campbell’s life proved that. Driven by a near obsession to not only match his famous father Malcom but to exceed him in ever way, shape, and fashion, Campbell was a national hero. The problem is that national heroes don’t necessarily rule the headline for their whole lives, even if they think that they should. It can be argued that one of the most awesome accomplishments in the history of human speed was Donald Campbell holding both the land and water speed records at the same time in the middle 1960s. That was also when public interest in both Campbell and his records peaked. From there on out, things would change.
With the attitude of the public becoming more and more tepid about speed records, Campbell knew he needed to make his next move a big one. He put his engineering and design band back together and came up with a machine designed to go 850mph on land, a near cartoon figure at this time in history.
Sadly, as you will learn below, it wasn’t enough to capture money, attention, and the national consciousness that was such a big part of his life when he was the reigning king of speed. Th story of the land missile that never got built has some great twists and turns. Somehow a car that never existed ended up killing Campbell.
Watch and see.
