The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

car driven by

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

. Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic

Leo Villa Leopoldo Alfonso Villa (30 November 1899 – 18 January 1979) was the long-serving mechanic of Sir Malcolm Campbell and Donald Campbell. He was born in London, of Italian and Scottish parents. Villa, Life with the Speed King Birth and early c ...

supervised its construction. This was Campbell's first car to use the

Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in prod ...

aero engine. His intention was to surpass his previous Sunbeam ''Blue Bird'''s achievement of the 150 mph barrier and to reach 200 mph.

1927

When first built, the car used a

engine of around 500 bhp. It was of conventional form with a front-mounted vertical radiator and the driver behind the engine. The three banks of the W-12 engine were hidden behind bulges in the narrow bonnet, with exhaust stub pipes protruding. Bluebird's first record attempt was on 4 February 1927 at

Pendine Sands Pendine Sands ( cy, Traeth Pentywyn) is a beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches west to east from Gilman Point to Laugharne Sands. The village of Pendine ( cy, Pentywyn, link=no) is close to the west ...

. A peak speed of was achieved, tantalisingly close to the magic , but the two-way average recorded for the record was lower, at .

1928

The 1927 record was short-lived, as Segrave's Sunbeam 1000 hp achieved both the 180 mph and 200 mph targets a month later. This prompted Campbell to rebuild the car as ''"Blue Bird III"'' for 1928. He persuaded the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

to allow him a

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flyin ...

-tuned "Sprint" engine, as fitted to the Supermarine S.5 seaplane, of . Improved aerodynamics were innovatively tested in

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

' wind-tunnel by R.K. Pierson, their Chief Designer. ''Blue Bird’s'' body shape was substantially changed, with the famous coachbuilders Mulliner producing the bodywork. The results were unorthodox. A vertical tail fin was added for stability, a first for ''Blue Bird'' and land speed record cars. Open spats behind the wheels also reduced drag. The biggest change was to the radiators, which were moved to the rear of the car and mounted externally. These surface radiators were made by

Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire. Notable for the design of a number of important military a ...

and contained of tube. Removing the nose radiator allowed a low, rounded nose with better streamlining. However, one French newspaper compared its looks to a whale. Following Segrave to Daytona Beach, on 19 February 1928 Campbell took the record at , breaking the 200 mph barrier for his first time. Once again though he only held the record for a couple of months, losing it by a whisker to

Ray Keech Charles Raymond Keech (May 1, 1900 - June 15, 1929) was an American board track and brick track racer in the 1920s. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, and for setting a land speed record. Career Land speed record ...

and the

White Triplex The White Triplex (also known as the "Triplex Special" and the "Spirit of Elkdom") was an American land speed record car built for J. H. White and driven by Ray Keech. It was powered by three 27-litre Liberty L-12, Liberty Aircraft engine, aero en ...

1929

Campbell sought a more predictable venue than a tidal beach, so he set off to survey possible sites by air. Africa showed promise, first at a site 600 miles from Timbuctu and so impractically inaccessible. A dry lake bed in South Africa, the

Verneukpan Verneukpan is a widespread dry salt pan south of Kenhardt, between Swartkop and Diemansput in the Northern Cape, South Africa. ''Verneuk'' is Afrikaans for to trick, mislead, screw or swindle. The pan is used for aerotowing operations. During t ...

, was still from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, but did have some chance of access. ''Blue Bird'' was rebuilt for a third time. The chassis, engine and drivetrain remained the same, but the bodywork was replaced with one built in Dumfries by

Arrol-Aster Arrol-Aster was a British car maker founded in 1927 when Arrol-Johnston and the English Aster company merged. The Wembley, London works of Aster was closed and production concentrated at the Heathhall, Dumfries factory of Arrol-Johnston. At fir ...

. This body was lower, requiring a hump around the cockpit where Campbell now sat astride the gearbox. The surface radiators were replaced by a conventional circular nose opening, covered by a distinctive "birdcage" grille."Seek New Auto Speeds Marks with Streamline Car" ''Popular Mechanics'', May 192
/ref> Unfortunately, after a period of five years of no rainfall, it poured down almost as soon as they arrived. Campbell returned to Cape Town, where on his 44th birthday he learnt that

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneous ...

at Daytona Beach had set a new record in Golden Arrow at . ''Blue Bird'' was unable to match this at the African altitude and climate, but he made the best use of the long course and set the world 5 mile and 10 mile records at . After Segrave had raised the record in Golden Arrow by a whole though, Campbell knew that ''Blue Bird'' was beaten and began work on a new car, the

Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird The Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. After Henry Segrave's Golden Arrow, clearly a more powerful engine was required for ''Blue Bird'', with a chassis and transmission to handle it. A s ...

References

* Many rare period photos.

Bibliography

*{{cite book , author=Kenny, Paul , title=The Man Who Supercharged Bond: The Extraordinary Story of Charles Amherst Villiers , location=Sparkford , publisher=Haynes Publishing , year=2009 , type=Hardback , isbn=978-1-84425-468-2 Bluebird record-breaking vehicles Bluebird,Napier-Campbell Bluebird Bluebird,Napier-Campbell Bluebird Cars powered by aircraft engines