Birmingham Stories | Britain falls in love with the motorcar

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Britain falls in love with the motorcar
The fastest car in the world

Watch the car breaking the land speed record in 1947

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The engines catch and roar defiance to time and distance.  He's away in first gear!  Then black smoke signals a shift to second at 140 miles an hour.  When he reaches 240 he goes into high.  Now he's passing the approach mark.  Faster, faster!  5 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile!  He's now on the measured mile.  Watch him go, a flashing silver streak across the horizon!  Electric eyes flash the signal to the timers.  The North to South run is over in seconds!  Cobb is slowing down and pulls into the South Pit.  Timers record a new world record of 385 miles per hour.'

[Musical interlude]

'Now the pressure is really on for the rules require two runs in opposite directions within one hour.  And its late in the afternoon already, no time to waste before darkness comes. Cobb is locked once more into the metal monster.  The dormant giant is pushed into pulsing life.  He pours on the gas, engines roar, tyres whine.  He thunders towards the measured mile!  This it!  Thousands of spectators hold their breath.  The tension is terrific.  Did he make 400?  He sure did!  403 miles per hour.  The average of the two runs is a new official world record of 394.0196 miles per hour over the measured mile.  John Cobb has taken a terrific beating!  But he's happy.  He has driven the fastest mile in the fastest car in the world!  The first man on Earth to drive more than 400 miles per hour.'