Campbell-Railton-Rolls Royce Blue Bird 1933 |
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The famous "Blue Bird" name originated when Malcolm Campbell, already a successful automobile racer at Brooklands, was inspired by Maeterlinck's play "The Blue Bird of Happiness". He went to his local hardware shop and bought up all the blue paint he could to paint his car. With paint still wet, the car won two races at Brooklands and a legend was born. Powered by an R-type, supercharged 2,500-hp V-12 Rolls Royce engine, this engine required another new body with two bulges covering the cylinder banks and a forward facing air intake for the supercharger protruding from the nose, to create a ram air effect. This new body was again built by Gurney, Nutting's. First trials were again at Daytona Beach in February 1933, with the first record in this car set at 272.46 mph at Daytona Beach on 22nd February 1933. The design of the car was an enormous advance on that of the earlier cars of the series. The familiar vertical fin on the tail had been provided, to give lateral stability, but it introduced a problem of its own. Any attempt at making the steering of the car more stable by fitting such a tail fin must result in greater sensitivity to the effects of a side wind, and another compromise became necessary. Excessive weight meant high stresses on the tyres and insufficient ballasting, which meant wheel spin. The load was adjusted by lead weights carried inside the main frame members, inside the tubular cross members and in all other convenient places. About 1,500 lb. of ballast of this kind were carried. In spite of this, it appeared that the adhesion was not sufficient, and the wheel spin set a limit to the speed of the car. The car was heavy enough to be slow in its reactions to disturbing forces, and was therefore safer than a lighter car would have been. The better the body shape of such a car, the leas work has the driver to do in keeping it on a straight course. The normal reaction to air pressure tends to depress the nose of the car, and the corresponding elevation of the rear portion reduces the adhesion. All these factors were carefully balanced against one another, and the results obtained leave no doubt that Blue Bird was as safe a car as it could possibly be in the circumstances governing its design. Campbell had twice re-taken the record from Segrave in arguably the most exciting days of the world land speed record, those during the 1930s. But even though he remained the current record holder, he was not satisfied. Always the perfectionist, Campbell decided his car must go even faster. The great designer Reid Railton was called in and hit upon the idea of using one of the Rolls-Royce R-type racing aero engines giving 2,500 horse-power-five times the power of the original Lion engine. The adoption of a Rolls Royce engine however was not without problems. First the Bluebirds chassis was "stretched" to 27 feet by the insertion of gussets in the side-members, and these were also taken further forward to carry a new radiator. The clutch was also improved to take the extra power, and room made for an outsize supercharger at the front of the car. It was estimated the engine would last for three minutes at full boost, and Campbell thought this long enough to reach his new goal of 300 miles an hour. Many changes had been made to the Lion-engined Bluebird before the Rolls engine was fitted. The coachbuilders Gurney Nutting reshaped the car to take the new engine. Campbell came close, but in the end had to be satisfied with a record of 272.46 mph Country of Manufacture: Great Britain
THE NEW "BLUEBIRD' REVEALEDSir Malcolm Campbell describes improvements to his car - he checks the changes with a mechanic. AU REVOIR & GOOD LUCK!Full title reads: "Au Revoir and good luck! Sir Malcolm Campbell's 'Blue Bird' leaves for Daytona where he will attempt new World's record." CAMPBELL SETS NEW SPEED MARK!272.108 MILES PER HOUR!Full title reads: "Daytona. 272.108 miles per hour! Sir Malcolm Campbell shatters his own World record in his famous 'Blue Bird'." |
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