On November 15, 1965 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah,
28-year-old Californian Craig Breedlove set a new land-speed
record of 600.601 miles an hour in his car, the Spirit of America,
which cost $250,000 and was powered by a surplus engine from
a Navy jet.
He actually drove across the desert twice that day, since
international world-record rules require a car to make two
timed one-mile runs in one hour. (Officials log the average
speed of the two trips.)
During his first trip, Breedlove traveled at a rate of 593.178
mph; during his second, the first time any person had
officially gone faster than 600 mph, he traveled at a rate
of 608.201 mph. “That 600 is about a thousand times better
than 599,” he said afterward. “Boy, it’s a great feeling.”
Norman Craig Breedlove Sr. (March 23, 1937 – April 4, 2023)
