Offered from the Collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
- Developed by land speed record legend Craig Breedlove and driven to a remarkable, record-setting 600.601 mph on 15 November 1965 on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats—the fastest run of Breedlove’s career
- Incredible specification; fuselage-like body over 34 feet in length built to house a GE J79 turbojet engine with afterburner
- Additionally driven by Breedlove’s wife, Lee, to the women’s land speed record of 308.506 mph
- Acquired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1975 and available for private acquisition for the first time ever
The automotive land speed record has existed nearly as long as the automobile itself, beginning with a breakneck 39.24-mph run laid down in France in 1898. In the 20th century, setting new land speed records became a matter of personal, and often national, pride, with French, Belgian, British, and American contenders vying to crack the 100-, 200-, and 300-mph barriers.
But the battle for extreme velocity truly accelerated, so to speak, when California native Craig Breedlove achieved 407.447 mph in his Spirit of America in August 1963. Previous record-setting machines had used a range of powerplants, but all ultimately put power to the ground through driven wheels. Breedlove’s sleek craft was propelled solely by thrust from a GE J47 turbojet engine, as used on the F-86 Sabre fighter plane. On Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, land speed had entered its Jet Age.
Breedlove’s reign as the King of Speed was soon challenged by brothers Walt and Art Arfons, who respectively fielded the Wingfoot Express (driven by Tom Green) and Green Monster (driven by Art himself) jet cars with great success. His retort was the car offered here: The Spirit of America Sonic I. With a name that suggested an ambitious goal—the sound barrier—the Sonic I diverged substantially from the dartlike, three-wheeled Spirit of America. The four-wheeled Sonic I was built around a “Coke bottle”-shaped fuselage body over 34 feet in length; this cradled a more powerful GE J79 turbojet (like those found on the F-4 Phantom II interceptor) producing a stated 15,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner. Goodyear, the effort’s major sponsor, provided special tires for the forged aluminum wheels, as well as disc brakes; an aerospace-style drag chute provided additional stopping power. The cockpit even incorporated an onboard air-supply system for the driver.
On 2 November 1965, Breedlove drove the Sonic I to a record-breaking 555.485 mph at Bonneville, but this fell less than a week later to Art Arfons in his Green Monster. Breedlove responded on 15 November by piloting his machine to 600.601 mph, becoming the first man to cross the 600 mph threshold. Notably, Breedlove’s wife, Lee, subsequently became the fastest woman alive when she drove the Sonic I to 308.506 mph.
Although Breedlove planned further land speed record attempts, none came to full fruition. His 1965 record would stand until October 1970, and no car would shatter the sound barrier until the ThrustSSC’s 1,227.986 km/h run in 1997. Importantly, the Sonic I is, therefore, also the car in which Breedlove made the fastest official recorded land speed run of his illustrious career.
With its record runs behind it, the Sonic I came under the care of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1975. It has been exhibited occasionally, including at the Daytona International Speedway in 1980 and at the then-newly opened Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California in 1995, and remains a visually commanding and technologically fascinating piece of speed record history.
Available for private acquisition for the very first time since its creation, Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America Sonic I would be a monumental addition to any collection with a focus on speed and its pursuit. It is a unique testament to American ingenuity and the product of an optimistic era in which anything seemed possible—with the records to prove that on the Bonneville Salt Flats, just about anything was.
$1,325,000 USD | Sold