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Leo Villa mechanic with Proteus Bluebird, the car in which Donald Campbell broke
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Leo Villa mechanic with Proteus Bluebird, the car in which Donald Campbell broke
Leo Villa mechanic with Proteus Bluebird, the car in which Donald Campbell broke the World Automobile Speed Record has has now made its last run, at 5 mph, at RAF Station, Debden, Essex, 19th June 1966.
Campbell was due to give a demonstration run at a gala there, but 5 days earlier, the car was badly damaged when, with racing driver Peter Bolton at the controls, it smashed through a wooden fence and hedge at 100 mph, sailed 10ft in the air across the Cambridge Chelsford road, and finally spun across a field for 200 yards
Daily Herald
Mirrorpix
Debden
Essex
England
Media ID 21632989
© Mirrorpix
Bluebird Land Speed Motors Record
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This print captures a significant moment in automotive history. In the frame, we see Leo Villa, the skilled mechanic behind Proteus Bluebird, standing proudly next to the iconic car that shattered the World Automobile Speed Record. The date is June 19th, 1966, and RAF Station in Debden, Essex serves as the backdrop for this historic event. However, fate had other plans for Donald Campbell's record-breaking machine. Just days before a highly anticipated demonstration run at a gala held on this very site, disaster struck. With racing driver Peter Bolton at the helm, Proteus Bluebird careened through a wooden fence and hedge at an astonishing speed of 100 mph. Miraculously soaring ten feet above Cambridge Chelsford road before skidding across a field for an impressive distance of 200 yards. Now reduced to its final run at a mere 5 mph due to extensive damage from its previous misadventure, this photograph immortalizes both triumph and setback within one frame. The image radiates with nostalgia from the swinging sixties era; it symbolizes not only bluebird land speed records but also represents human resilience in face of adversity. Preserved by Memory Lane Prints and captured by Daily Herald photographers during an unforgettable decade of innovation and ambition – this snapshot stands as testament to man's relentless pursuit of pushing boundaries on wheels without mentioning any commercial use or affiliations with companies involved in such endeavors.
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