Woo-hoo! After simmering in the Mojave for weeks, the British Steam Car peeled off a 131-mph test run today. Although that speed isn’t official — there wasn’t a timekeeper present — it shows the world’s largest tea kettle has a real shot at breaking a record that’s stood for more than a century.
Team Steam finally excised the last of the technical gremlins that have bedeviled the car since its arrival at Edwards Air Force Base on June 29, and test driver Don Wales made four runs today. The best of them topped 131, which comfortably beats the speed record for a steam-powered car. Fred Marriott set the current benchmark in 1906 when he went 127.659 mph in a Stanley Steamer Rocket.
The Federation Internationale d’Automobile — the governing body of motorsports — will set up an official speed course on Aug. 17 and the team will make runs through Aug. 22. We’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, check out all our coverage of the British Steam Car here and see a cool cutaway diagram of the car here. You can get a rundown of the car’s tech here.
Photo of the British Steam Car in Mojave, California: British Steam Car
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