Full steam ahead

The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are `land speed central' when it comes to world records.

Made famous by Sir Malcolm Campbell and his car Bluebird, the salt flats were the scene of his last land speed record in 1935 when he became the first person to drive an automobile at more than 300 miles per hour (301.337mph or 482km/h).

Now a group of Britons are planning an assault on a slightly unusual world record there.

After years of planning and development, the British Steam Car has been unveiled in a bid to smash the world steam car speed record at Bonneville in August.

The last official steam powered record attempt took place in 1906, with Fred Marriott driving a Stanley Steamer built by the Stanley brothers.

It achieved 127.659mph (205km/h). In 1985, Bob Barber reached 145.607mph (234km/h) in a steam car but only made one run - to qualify as a world record the average speed of two runs in opposite directions is taken.

From day one, the British have had an uneasy love affair with steam power. James Watt started the ball rolling with the first reciprocating steam engine.

Cornish mining engineer Richard Trevithick built a full-size steam road locomotive in 1801 at Camborne Hill. Named Puffing Devil, on Christmas Eve that year, he demonstrated it by successfully carrying several men up Camborne Hill and then continuing on to the nearby village of Beacon. This is believed by many to be the first demonstration of transportation by (steam) automotive power.

The first commercial railway in 1812 used a twin-cylinder locomotive, The Salamanca, designed by Matthew Murray, to cart coal from Middleton Colliery to the centre of Leeds in Yorkshire.

Salamanca was so successful that Murray made three more locos, one of which blew up while working, and another was used on Tyneside where it was seen by George Stephenson, who modelled his own locomotive, Blucher, on it.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened on Teesside in 1825. Driven by Stephenson, Locomotion hauled coal and flour nine miles (15km) in two hours, reaching a speed of 24mph (39km/h) on one stretch.

The first purpose-built passenger car, dubbed Experiment, was attached, and carried dignitaries on the opening journey. It was the first time passenger traffic had been run on a steam locomotive railway.

Now, in similar British resolve, having overcome numerous challenges and setbacks in the past eight years, the British Steam Car Team is ready to take on Bonneville.

This is no lavishly funded project, most of the work developing and building the car being undertaken in a modest wooden workshop at Lymington in the New Forest, Hampshire.

After project manager Frank Swanston died last year the team regrouped and was boosted by the recruitment of Don Wales as test driver.

Wales is the nephew of the late Donald Campbell and grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, who between them established more than 20 land and water speed records.

Wales himself set an electric vehicle land speed record in Bluebird Electric in 2001.

At Bonneville, the British Steam Car will be housed in the same hangar used by the Campbells for their record attempts.

The car works by using liquid petroleum gas to raise steam in the seven-metre-long car.

The gas is set alight using an ordinary car ignition system and a valve pinched from a camping gas stove. A wall of flame at a temperature of more than 1000C is created and used to heat a tonne of water.

The water passes through the car's tubes and turns into superheated steam. The steam, at 400C, hits a turbine and turns a shaft, which turns the wheels.

Principal racing driver Charles Burnett, who has competed in drag car and drag boat racing, will drive the British Steam Car.

He has also captured a variety of world records using catamarans and monohulls powered by diesel, petrol and LPG engines.

He was included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for an offshore water speed record of 137mph (216km/h).

“I am passionate about advancing environmentally friendly vehicles on land, water and in the air and this is an excellent way to demonstrate the potential of steam,” said Burnett.

Support for the British Steam Car Team also came from 1996 Formula One world champion, Damon Hill.

The official website, www.steamcar.co.uk includes a link to a special Pound a Pixel website.

Here, individuals and companies can buy space on the site and will get their names on the car for just pound stg. 1.