This is the first time that Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America Sonic I land speed racer is being offered for public sale. Up until now it was part of the collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum for decades.
Spirit of America Sonic I is powered by an F-4 Phantom II-sourced GE J79 turbojet engine with an afterburner and it’s capable of 600.601 mph, as proven by Breedlove back in 1965 on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats when he set the new World Speed Record and sent his rivals back to the drawing board.
Fast Facts – Spirit of America Sonic I
- The Spirit of America Sonic I, a jet-powered land speed racer, is being offered for sale for the first time after decades in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. Powered by a GE J79 turbojet engine with afterburner, it achieved a top speed of 600.601 mph in 1965.
- Craig Breedlove, who piloted the car to its record, also holds the Guinness World Record for the longest skid marks, set during a high-speed crash in 1965. The incident involved a 5-mile skid and ended with a 200 mph crash into a saltwater pond—Breedlove emerged unscathed.
- Spirit of America Sonic I set the land speed record of 600.601 mph in 1965, beating rivals Tom Green and Art Arfons. That same year, Breedlove’s wife, Lee Breedlove, used the car to set a new women’s land speed record at 308.506 mph.
- The car, featuring a turbojet engine from an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet, was later displayed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Petersen Automotive Museum. It is now up for auction with a guide price of $500,000 – $1,000,000 USD through RM Sotheby’s in February.
Craig Breedlove And The World’s Longest Skid Marks
Craig Breedlove is best-known for his land speed records however he should really be at least equally well-known for the fact that he still holds the Guinness Book of World Record for creating the longest skid marks in history. He achieved this record in 1965 driving the first Spirit of America, he lost control of the car at high speed, skidding for 5 miles (8 kms) through a row of telephone poles before finally crashing into a salt water pond at approximately 200 mph (320 km/h).
Above Video: This is a historic documentary on the Spirit of America, the precursor to Spirit of America Sonic 1, and its famous high-speed crash at Bonneville in 1964.
He clambered out of the car completely uninjured, and jokingly said “And now for my next act I’m going to set myself on fire.” Fortunately he didn’t set himself on fire, instead he threw his efforts into designing and building Spirit of America Sonic I in order to re-take the record from his rivals Tom Green and Art Arfons.
The first Spirit of America had been powered by a turbojet engine sourced from a North American F-86 Sabre fighter jet. It was the first of the modern record-breaking jet-propelled cars, with earlier examples using engines that powered the wheels directly. Breedlove’s innovation would catch on, and all land speed record setting cars since have followed this design.
The Spirit of America Sonic I
Spirit of America Sonic I would use four wheels to the three used on the earlier car, it was also powered by a more powerful GE J79 turbojet engine originally from an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet, keeping the afterburner in place. This engine was capable of up to 17,900 lbf of thrust.
On November the 15th, 1965 Craig Breedlove would set a new land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats of 600.601 mph, beating Arfons, and establishing a new high water mark that no one would be able to reach for the rest of the decade.
The work of the Spirit of America Sonic I wasn’t yet over however, as Lee Breedlove, Craig’s wife would use the car to set a new women’s land speed record of 308.506 mph in the same year.
Craig’s record wouldn’t be broken until 1970 when Gary Gabelich’s “The Blue Flame” land speed record rocket car set a new record at 630.388 mph, just 29.787 mph faster than Breedlove.
After its success in Utah, the Spirit of America Sonic I was put on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, it was then later loaned to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California in 1995, before making its way back to Indianapolis.
Here we see Craig Breedlove on the salt at Bonneville in Utah before setting the new land speed record at just over 600 mph in 1965.
The car is now being offered for sale to the general public for the first time ever. The price guide is $500,000 – $1,000,000 USD though as you may expect, it’s hard to value such a car as comparable vehicles come up for sale so rarely.
If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can visit the listing here. It’s due to roll across the auction block with RM Sotheby’s in late February along with a number of other historic vehicles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection.
Images: Darin Schnabel ©2024 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
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