Wheel and tyre from Donald Campbell's 'Bluebird' car, 1960s
Object No. B1690
On 17 July 1964 Donald Campbell broke the world land speed record driving his car 'Bluebird' CN7 across the dry salt bed of Lake Eyre at Muloorina, South Australia. The wheels and tyres he used, including this set, were specially designed and crucial to his success. Campbell's protracted world record attempt in Australia captivated the nation and was beset by difficulties. When the normally dry Lake Eyre flooded, the attempt was delayed by many months. Serious doubts were raised in the press over Campbell's fitness. And the track surface that was far from ideal. Persistence, backed up by much research, development and testing, paid off. In the same year Campbell set a new water speed record on Lake Dumbleyung in Western Australia. Bluebird was powered by a Bristol Siddley Proteus 705 gas turbine engine developing in excess of 5,000 horsepower. The engine drove all four wheels at a speed of 403.1 mph (649 kph). Bluebird was designed by the Norris Brothers and built by Motor Panels Ltd, of Coventry, England. This set is representative of the 16 wheels and 80 tyres specially designed and made in Birmingham, England, by the Dunlop Tyre Co at an underground testing centre for Campbell's record bid. Wheels and tyres were among the most important components in the assembly of the car and needed to be strong to withstand the abrasive salt on the lake's surface. A team of Dunlop technicians and fitters, including Australian tyre engineers, were part of Campbell's team. They were under the leadership of Andrew Mustard, who not only designed the tyres but was contracted to build the 15 mile (24 km) tracks on Lake Eyre and was the reserve driver for Bluebird. In 1965 Jules Feldman, editor of the popular "Modern Motor Magazine", arranged with the Dunlop Tyre Company in England to bring back to Australia one of Bluebird's giant 52 inch (1.32 m) diameter wheels for a motor show. Mr Feldman presented the wheel to the Museum in 1967, only months after Donald Campbell died on Coniston Water in the English Lake District while trying to better his own record. Dawes, Geoff, 'The Racing Campbells', in "Australian Classic Car Monthly", June, 1997. Margaret Simpson Curator, Science & Technology May 2008
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Summary
Object Statement
Wheel and tyre from 'Bluebird' CN7 racing car, rubber/steel, made by Dunlop Rubber Co, Birmingham, England, 1961-1963, used by Donald Campbell during world land speed record, Lake Eyre, South Australia, 1964
Physical Description
Wheel and tyre from 'Bluebird' CN7 racing car, rubber/steel, made by Dunlop Rubber Co, Birmingham, England, 1961-1963, used by Donald Campbell during world land speed record, Lake Eyre, South Australia, 1964 The wheel and tyre have an external diameter of 52 inches (1.32m), a width of 8.2 inches (21 cm) and weigh 245 lbs (111 kg). The tyre has an outer coating of 1/50 inch natural rubber covering multiple layers of rayon cord; it has an inner tube made of natural rubber. The tyre weighs 50 lb (23 kg). It was inflated with nitrogen at over 100 psi. The steel wheel is a convex, split-rim, disc type finished in silver.
PRODUCTION
Notes
The tyres used by Donald Campbell were made by the Dunlop Rubber Co in England. The Dunlop firm has played a significant role in motoring development since John Boyd Dunlop, a veterinary surgeon, invented the first pneumatic tyre in 1888. Dunlop was apparently watching his young son ride his tricycle, fitted with solid rubber tyres, over cobblestones. To improve the ride and handling he wrapped the tricycle wheels in thin rubber sheets, glued them together and inflated them with a football pump. Dunlop's idea was patented the same year, and in 1890 the first Dunlop tyre factory was opened in Dublin, Ireland, followed by one in Hanau, Germany in 1893. Production at this time was for bicycle tyres, but in 1895 the first car drove on pneumatic tyres. By 1898 the firm had outgrown its Dublin site and production moved to Coventry in England, and in 1902 it moved to a 400-acre site in Birmingham which later became known as Fort Dunlop. Throughout the 20th century Dunlop was involved in motor racing, supplying tyres to Le Mans and Formula One winners as well as land speed record holders including Henry Seagrave in 1927 and Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1935. It followed then that Dunlop should provide specially designed and made tyres for Donald Campbell's land speed attempts. For the successful 1964 record breaking bid, a special underground high speed test plant was built at Fort Dunlop at a cost of 150,000 pounds for research and development into the design and manufacture of Bluebird's tyres. The tyres were tried out on a test rig set up at equivalent revolutions to a car travelling at 500 mph (805 kph). Considerable breakthroughs were achieved relating to the technique by which the tyre cord was bonded to the rubber. A new type of rubber compound in the casing was devised which provided a stronger bond to the tread rubber. Consequently the cords could be packed closer together and the casing made stronger. It was necessary to develop stronger tyres as the surface of Lake Eyre, a mixture of salt crystals and dust, was much more abrasive than on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, where Bluebird had crashed in 1960 during an earlier attempt. The Dunlop Rim and Wheel Co developed the steel wheels using high quality forgings. "Donald Campbell's Bluebird Tyres' in "Australian Hot Rod", May 1964, p. 12 http://www.jaxquickfit.com.au/tyres-dunlop-history.htm
HISTORY
Notes
Donald Campbell (1921-1967) was the son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, who was also a well-known British land and water speed record breaker. Both father and son continued a family tradition of naming their record-breaking cars and boats Bluebird, from Maeterlinck's play, 'The Blue Bird'. Donald Campbell attempted to take the world land speed record in 1960 at Bonneville but crashed his Bluebird CN7 racing car at 360 mph (579.3 kph). Three years later the car was rebuilt and taken to Lake Eyre, in South Australia, together with 15 tons of equipment, 80 tyres and 16 wheels. Handling the equipment and the very large and heavy wheels needed considerable planning due to the remote location of the attempt. Specially designed hydraulic lifting gear mounted on Land Rovers was used to handle the tyres onto the wheels to facilitate the rapid wheel changing required during the short period available for turn-around during a world record attempt. According to John Pearson in his book "Bluebird and the Dead Lake", "Bluebird could raise itself on four pneumatic rams which came sliding from beneath its belly at the touch of a button. These rams were one of Campbell's own ideas which Norris had skilfully incorporated in the design, and on the actual record bid, as a matter of course, the wheels could be switched between the first and second runs. "The four panels at the side of the car were lifted off, exposing the great convex silver discs of the wheels. The rams came down, and silently, effortlessly, Bluebird raised herself a further two inches off the ground. The fresh wheels were pushed forward on small, yellow tubular steel trolleys, and when the hub bolts had been undone and the old wheels removed, the new ones were lifted carefully into placed and bolted home. The whole operation took something less than ten minutes. Then Bluebird gently lowered itself again like a large fish in the act of mating, and the rams slid back into its body". Pearson, John, "Bluebird and the Dead Lake : The Story of Donald Campbell's Land Speed Record at Lake Eyre in 1964", Collins, Sydney, 1965, p.118
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Modern Motor Magazine, 1967
Acquisition Date
13 November 1967
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