Steam car speed recordIn 1906, the world's steam car land speed record was set at 127.7 mph (205.5 km/h) by Fred Marriot, racing at Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A. in his canoe-shaped Stanley Steamer Rocket. The record stood for over a century, until 25 Aug 2009. Marriot crashed while trying for a new record, so without official result, but was clocked at over 190 mph when his vehicle flew off the ground, flipped and landed. Miraculously, he survived. The Rocket resembled an upside-down canoe on four bicycle wheels. In fact, its wood and canvas body was made by the Roberts Canoe Factory, Riverside, Mass. It was powered by a two-cylinder engine with a steam boiler about the size of a washing-machine tub. After the crash, the Stanley Steamer manufacturer withdrew from racing. It ended all production in 1924.« |
