Craig Breedlove and Spirit of America - 1964 crash!
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- čas přidán 1. 12. 2018
- Here is rare film of land speed legend Craig Breedlove’s spectacular crash on the Bonneville Salt Flats on October 15, 1964, going for the record in his "Spirit of America" jet car. As Craig was going into the measured mile on his return run, something broke in Spirit's steering. He hung on through the mile, then hits the chutes. They torn away. He eased down on the brakes. They burned up, leaving him with no steering and no way of stopping as he careened off the end of the course. He ended up setting a new land speed record of 526.277 mph-and almost drowning in the process!
For the full story, check out "Ultimate Speed: The Fast Life and Extreme Cars of Racing Legend Craig Breedlove": www.amazon.com/gp/product/164... and "Speed Duel: The Inside Story of the Land Speed Record in the Sixties": www.amazon.com/gp/product/155...
For more land speed stuff, check out my on-line archive: www.samuelhawley.com/lsr.html - Sport
That was fantastic!
His pure adrenaline filled explanation of each harrowing element of his run ... as it happened, was simply awesome ... so wonderful that was captured on film w/sound.
I guess his explanation was fake and recorded later, :) as he just explained how the water was just rising above his head standing there bone dry :D
@@Copozeras
I'm guessing you're joking, nothing fake about any if that adrenaline filled explanation... minutes after a +500mph run 60yrs ago, I mean damn!
One can clearly see his wet driver's suit after he hugs his old man, ... @5:33 onward.
Also, he didn't say it was over his head.
The dad hugging him was the best art. So sweet.
Its sad that he finally had to hang up his helmet, he was a real gentleman, and legendary racer. Hats of to him , from the UK.
I always idolized him as a kid, pushing for the land speed record, incredible speed for 1964.
I did as well
My favourite clip on the entirety of CZcams, ace. I guess for the last seconds of the run he was also the fastest man on water....
I am here to pay respect to the legend Craig Breedlove. One of the greatest land speed chasers in history. The adrenaline after his failed chute must have been unbelievable yet he laughed and joked after facing miraculous circumstances. The Spirit of America was surprisingly looking pretty intact. RIP Craig Breedlove who passed away April 4, 2023.
I remember this when it was first broadcast.
His Spirit of America was so far ahead of its time. It was an amazing machine
It can't have been in terms of speed, at least by that time, as his record was broken less than 2 weeks later.
@@DoubleMonoLR Art Arfons was able to get his hands on a more powerful J-79 Jet engine and ran a 536mph to Craigs 526mph.
this is very cool!
Thanks Craig. (& S Harvey for the upload)
Mr. B came to our school in 65/66? (STHS, South Lake Tahoe)
He showed this entire film (plus more) in our HS auditorium. We got to see a slo-mo of him splitting power lines w/o a chute and just a nanosecond before his 'lake trip' .
Still makes my butt itch.
The best part back then was his narration . A very well spoken and descriptive young man.
Steve-o
The fact the car held together as they pulled it out of the water, even after hitting a pole during the "Oh Shit" phase, is a testament to the engineering that went into building that car. So happy he came away unscathed to build, and race again. Total respect for him.
I remember seeing this film footage back in the day when it happened on a show called Roaring Wheels , glad it's preserved for posterity . I recently found out that after all the legal drama involved with the retrieval of the car from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry , it is now in the possession of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles , California . I hope to see it there in the near future , since I have been a fan of that car since it's inception . Thanks again Sam 😎👍
The 3-wheeled Spirit, after being given up by the Chicago museum, went first to Craig's shop in Rio Vista, CA. It was sitting there, in parts, when I visited Craig in 2016 for several days of intense interviews. Craig at that time was talking about restoring it himself. I had visions of a reality TV show featuring Craig and some of the old crew restoring Spirit, and then Craig taking it for one last run on the Salt. But alas, it wasn't meant to be.
"And for my next trick, I will set myself a fire."
Beach Boys song brought me here. Such a great video with the Spirit of America and Craig!
I really loved hitting Bonneville in the early 90's with Tex and the guys from the magazine. Miss those days.
Amazing story & a miracle he is still alive after his record breaking u-turn in the 90’s
RIP Craig Breedlove. I just learned he passed away in 2023. What an incredible journey he had. I wished this video ended with The Beach Boys song about him…….
I saw this car (or a close replica) in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry back in 1998.
As a kid I got a 1972 Guinness book of world records, it had S.O.A. record for the longest skid..5miles long
What a man. Beyond words. GOD BLESS CRAIG. TRUE LEGEND.
drives into a lake at 500mph
"Did I break the record?"
A great clip, thanks for posting... this was also shown in a documentary "One Second From Eternity" which I did have on video, but can't find anywhere online...well worth a watch.
Thanks, Keith!
Thank you so much for posting this! I know I seen the crash multiple times I've never seen and talking with his crew afterwards, great great great historic footage, great guy for sure
Well, Breedlove was lucky to survive that. He thought he was going to die. But, it was a miracle that he didn't.
REALLY cool older video.. Begs a couple of questions unless it was just editing.... First, why didn't he kill the engine the second the chute didn't catch properly.. I know it is negligible.. How the heck did both chutes fail? Somebody to forget to put the bolt connecting both of them to the Spirit.. Great that she survived! Thanks for uploading the video!
Amazing
Amazing!
You should read the book speed racers, it gives you what happens after this crash and how he was shafted by his sponsors and his so called 'friends'.
I actually wrote two books on the topic, including most recently "Ultimate Speed," the authorized biography of Craig Breedlove.
Hey Is there any footage of Breedlove supposedly doing a 600 mph u turn?
You mean at Black Rock in 1996? I'm sure there must be, but I haven't seen it. I know that Chuck Lyford was circling overhead in an airplane and his son was filming the run with a camcorder, but that footage went missing after being lent to a local TV news station.
It's here, and while very fast it doesn't seem like 600mph:
czcams.com/video/tvdAw8dJ9cU/video.html
I think the '600mph u-turn' probably means a high speed u-turn *after* hitting 600mph.
Craig was really lucky on that run, and I might be a distance cousin. I thought they used to put reverse on a jet engine
The announcer makes the sound like a part of 77 sunset strip
Wow
My dad shot much of this footage, hi dad!
Very cool! He preserved a fantastic historical record.
*"And for my next trick!"*
What a rush. . . Respect. Guardian Angels on duty that day….
I couldn't imagine having that much time knowing you're about to be seriously injured or killed, trying to decide what you're going to hit the process and then coming away unscathed and I can just like he did hyphen in a complete 'how in the "F##K am I standing here, holy SHIT' mode. I 😁
He later went into space on the return trip he landed on a deserted beach where he found a beautiful Jeannie in a bottle The rest is history......
Jeannie is a name, albeit there was of course a genie in 'I dream of Jeannie'
how is he bone dry?
Massive steel balls.....