“IfIhavetogo,oldboy,Ihope I’mgoingruddyfastatthetime.” So said Donald Campbell on New Year’s Eve 1966, ashehostedapartyinConiston,thetownclosesttothelakethatwashometo many of his water-speed records. Days later, the Speed King’s unintended wish wouldsoinfamouslycometrue. On4January1967,justbefore9am,BluebirdK7leftthesurfaceofLake Conistonshortlyafterhittinganestimated328mph(528kph).Itsunkwithin seconds,Campbelldyinginhisattempttotakethewater-speedrecordabove 300mph(480kph).Desperateforsuccess,he’dwantedtomakeheadlinesatthe London Boat Show which opened hours later. He did, but they were of a far more sombre nature. “Thatamazingaccidentandthevisualityandfinalityofit,andhistalkingthe wholewaythroughasthisthingwascartwheelingtoitsdeath,Ithinkreallystuck inpeople’sminds,”sayshisdaughter,GinaCampbell.“Thingslikethatweren’t caught on camera in 1967. I think it’s immortalised him in record-breaking.” Campbell,itmustbenoted,wasacarguy.Hisdesperationtobethefirstman past480km/honwaterwasn’tmerelytowardoffthecriticismofBritish newspapers,aseagertotreadontheirsportingheroesastheyaretoday.Itwasto raisepublicityforaconsiderablymoreambitiousrecord:topping 1280kphonland with a car named Bluebird CN8. Fifty years after his death, Bloodhound SSC has thesametarget. Healsolikedhisroadcars.ArogueMercedes-Benz300SLGullwingaside, Campbell’s car history looks proudly British, with Jaguar the prevalent name. He usedanXK150totestouttheAustraliansaltbedhe’dtakewheel-drivencarsabove 640kphuponwithBluebirdCN7,whilebackonBritishshores,aMkIIandE-type werehismostfamousdailydrivers.Infact,ablueE-typecoupeisoneoftheeeriest propsofthePathénewsclipwhichdramaticallyreportedhisdeathin1967. Becausewhat’smorefinalthanseeingthecarheparked up beside Bluebird’s slipwayatPierCottage,whichhe’dneverreturnto? It’swhereIstandnow,observinganF-Typecoupepaintedablueremarkably closetoK7’s.It’sacoincidence,ratherthananopportunisticspecial.Andintruth, Bluebird record-breakers were painted whichever hue of blue paint was most financially accessible, though the Ultra Blue of this British Design Edition is closest tohoweveryoneimaginesK7onthatfinalrun. I’dliketothinkDonaldwouldapprove.Hewasapatrioticman,whowantedto breakrecordsforBritishindustryasmuchashimself.Thesonofarecord-breaker – SirMalcolmCampbell–hefollowedthesame,perilouscareerpathafterfailingto makethegradeasapilotinWorldWarIIonhealthgrounds.Bitterlydisappointed, somesurmiseheneededsomethingelsetofight,andhechosethewater. With the sun finally visible, photographer Mark Riccioni is retaking images Then and now: 50 years after Campbell parked his E-type at Pier Cottage one last time, Jaguar makes a car that’s remarkably similar. Bluebird paint optional we’dalreadyshotearlier,whenthecarwasbarelyvisible through peeing-down rain. But our frustrations are trivial whenyoutakeintoaccountthegreaterhavoctheLake District’s endlessly changeable weather played on Campbell’s recordattempts.Theycouldstretchoutforweeksowingto badconditions,tothechagrinoftheimpatientpress.Infact, Campbell’s rotten luck even saw an arid Australian lakebed suffer its first rain for 15 years when he turned up for his go at the land-speed record. Still, in 1964, Donald became the only man to break both land and water records in the same year, both Down Under. He achieved the former at 648.7km/h in Bluebird CN7, the latter at 444.7km/h in Bluebird K7. It was his crowning achievement. Conistonisasmalltown,andonadankautumnday,the onlyevidenceoftheLakeDistrict’skeentourismindustrycan befoundbehindthesteamed-upwindowsoftearooms.But backintheFiftiesandSixties,whenDonald’srecordchasing wasatitspeak,itwasadifferentstory.Whilerecordattempts wereneverpublicisedassuch,crowdswouldassembleto watch Bluebird run up and down the slender body of water. HISTORICAL IMAGES: PAUL ALLONBY, MIRRORPIX 66 JUNE <strong>2017</strong>
Coniston is not the Lake District’s most thronging town, and half a century after it was last gripped by water-speed record fever, it’s very hard to imagine its still, slender body of water being disturbed by a wild, 480km/h jet boat. K7 was nicknamed “the blue lobster” by some, and its shape changed wildly over its 13-year career, as new discoveries were made about how its aero worked. Or didn’t. On its final run, it made Donald Campbell the first man to go beyond 480km/h on water BLUEBIRD K7
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