On February 27, RM Sotheby’s will auction Craig Breedlove’s land speed record-breaking Spirit of America Sonic 1 car at Coral Gables, Florida, in the US.
On November 15 1965 Breedlove drove his jet-powered car at the Utah Bonneville Salt Flats in the US at an unprecedented 600mph (965.606km/h.)
Notably, Breedlove’s wife Lee subsequently became the fastest woman alive when she drove the Sonic I at 308.506mph (496.492km/h).
Breedlove set an earlier record of 655.770km/h in August 1963 using a craft propelled by the GE J47 turbojet engine, as used on the F-86 Sabre fighter plane, but by mid-October of that year his record had already been broken three times — by Tom Green, Art Arfons and Breedlove himself.
He returned to the salt flats on November 15 1965 piloting a machine with a more powerful GE J79 turbojet like those found on the F-4 Phantom II interceptors and posted 966.573km/h, becoming the first man to cross the 600mph threshold.
The chosen name for the craft, Sonic 1, was intentional. Breedlove’s record stood until October 1970, with neither him nor the other contenders able to go supersonic until the Thrust SSC arrived on the scene in 1997 to post a still unbroken 1,227.986km/h.
The Sonic I was purchased by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1975 and has been exhibited occasionally, including at the Daytona International Speedway in 1980 and at the then-newly opened Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, in 1995.
It remains a visually commanding and technologically fascinating piece of speed record history that is now available for private acquisition for the first time. The car was built using a Coke bottle-shaped fuselage and measuring more than 10m in length. It produced a stated 15,000oz of thrust with the afterburner activated.
Goodyear provided the sponsorship and special tyres, and the forged aluminium wheels and disc brakes, while an aerospace-style drag chute provided additional stopping power.
It is expected to sell for $500,000-$1,000,000 (R9.2m -R18.3m.)
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