• Christmas is exactly two months away, but it is never too early to start planning!
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (October 25, 2023) -- Malcolm Barlow, the Godson of 1994 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) inductee Sir Malcolm Campbell, stopped by recently for a holiday-themed picture by the mighty “Blue Bird” that Sir Malcolm drove to astring of land speed records on the beach in Daytona. Barlow is using the picture for his 2023 Christmas card.
A hero in his native Great Britain who was knighted in 1931, Campbell pursued both water and land speed records and all of his vehicles, including an airplane, were nicknamed Blue Bird. Perhaps the most famous of Campbell's sleek machines was the second Blue Bird car that was first constructed in 1926 and established a new land speed record of 174.883 mph at Pendine Sands in South Wales.
Campbell then looked to the U.S. and the long and wide-open beaches of Daytona Beach. In 1928, Campbell drove the second Blue Bird to set a record at Daytona of 206.956 mph on February 19, 1928. Between 1931 and 1933 Campbell established three more land speed records there, ranging from 246.09 mph to 272.46 mph. The last record to be set by Campbell at Daytona was in 1935, and for all of these runs, Blue Bird was powered by a supercharged Napier aircraft engine.
The final run in 1935 was the fastest set by Campbell at Daytona at 276.82 mph. The 90th anniversary of that run is less than two years from now and Barlow – who happens to turn 90 that same year – plans to come back for a visit. The birthday cake will be on us Mr. Barlow!
The MSHFA is housed in Daytona International Speedway's Ticket & Tours Building located in front of the famed 2.5-mile DIS tri-oval. Access to the MSFHA museum is included with every Daytona International Speedway tour, which run throughout each day, or as a museum-only ticket. The museum is open daily 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. nearly year-round except major holidays. It is visited by more than 100,000 guests each year from every state in America and countries all over the world. For museum tickets call 1-800-PIT-SHOP.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/
(Photo: MSHFA/Whitney Osborn)