RIP Craig Breedlove

[Cape Byron]

Damn. Just... damn.

I've been watching videos of Craig and Art Arfons swapping the LSR title like playing pass the parcel and then this happens.

Totally amazing man. A real legend.

 

[Cape Byron]

 

[Sandy H.]

Dang.

 

[Dotini]

RIP "Brave Speedlove".

I followed all major LSR attempts throughout the 60's. Craig Breedlove's were perhaps the most impressive of the time. I'm still following wheel-driven piston engine record attempts.

 

[Hobie1dog]

trendsetter/Pioneer

 

[Tyeeking]

I've been watching videos of Craig and Art Arfons swapping the LSR title like playing pass the parcel and then this happens.

Good memories from growing up.

 

[lakeroadster]

​

86 years is a pretty good run. RIP and God Speed. I can remember watching his speed records as a kid, on Wide World of Sports as I recall.

We attended Bonneville back in the 1980's. Until we did that it was hard to comprehend just how "ballsy" these drivers are.

This getting old stuff isn't for the faint of heart. It seems every week another of my "heroes" passes on.

​

 

[Fishhead]

35 gallons per flying mile.

 

[Cape Byron]

 

[bad_idea]

Wow, he was a lot younger when he was first setting records than I had thought. I had assumed he'd died long ago. Turns out he's my father's age.

RIP

 

[Dane Ronnow]

To me, Craig Breedlove was the face of LSR attempts in the 1960s. I had the good fortune to witness his record-breaking 526.28 mph run and subsequent crash in October, 1964, just 11 days before my 13th birthday. I was living in Salt Lake City, and my uncle Lane, who was a news reporter for KCPX TV in Salt Lake, asked if I would like to fly with him to the Salt Flats on his assignment to cover Breedlove's LSR attempt. For a kid who had been scrapbooking LSR attempts, beginning with Mickey Thompson's runs in his piston-driven Challenger, this was a dream come true.

That was a day I'll never forget, supplementing my extensive scrapbook collection with my own movie that I filmed with Dad's 16mm Bell & Howell camera, and meeting the man who was already a legend to me.

It's been said 'There are no tears in Heaven'. I like to think there are no speed limits either. Rest in peace, Craig, and pedal to the metal.

 

[Cape Byron]