Mens 1935 Malcolm Campbell 'Gary Harman's Speed' Bluebird Railton V Car T-Shirt

RetroClassic™ Mens Classic Mens 1935 Malcolm Campbell 'Speed' Bluebird Railton V Car T-Shirt design.

We're thrilled to be collaborating with the Campbell Family Heritage Trust to celebrate Donald and Sir Malcolm's land/water speed record achievements, and legacies, in a series of new t-shirt designs featuring designs from the families photo archives. 

This design features the Campbell-Railton Blue Bird which was a land speed record car commissioned by Malcolm Campbell the Napier Lion engined Blue Bird had reached the end of its performance life.  

Clearly Captain Campbell needed a more powerful engine to make his next Blue Bird competitive, with a chassis and transmission to handle it. A Rolls Royce R Type engine was used. The Campbell-Railton Blue Bird was Sir Malcolm Campbell's final land speed record car.

Visually this car was quite different. The bodywork was now rectangular in cross section and spanned the full width over the wheels. Although actually higher, this increased width gave the impression of a much lower and sleeker car, accentuated by the long stabilising tailfin and the purposeful raised ridges over the engine camboxes. This Blue Bird was clearly a design of the Modernist '30s, not the brute heroism of the '20s.

Mechanically the changes to the car had focussed on improving the traction, rather than increasing the already generous power. Double wheels and tyres were fitted to the rear axle, to improve grip. The final drive was also split into separate drives to each side. This reduced the load on each drive, allowed the driver position to be lowered, but required the wheelbase to be shortened asymmetrically on one side by 1½"(37 mm). Airbrakes were fitted, actuated by a large air cylinder. For extra streamlining the radiator air intake could be closed by a movable flap, for a brief period during the record itself. 

Blue Bird made its first record runs back on Daytona Beach in early 1935. On 7 March 1935 Campbell improved his record to 276.82 mph (445.5 kph), but the unevenness of the sand caused a loss of grip and he knew the car was capable of more.

The faster car needed a bigger and smoother arena, and this led to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah. This time the young Donald Campbell accompanied his father. On 3 September 1935, the 300 mph barrier fell by a bare mile-per-hour, crowning Sir Malcolm Campbell's record-breaking career.

Photography By:
Gary Harman - https://www.instagram.com/garyharman https://www.flickr.com/photos/garyharman/

This 100% cotton crew neck T-shirt has a taped Shoulder to Shoulder and has Twin Needle stitching on neck and shoulders.

Wash Information: 
• Hand Wash is best
• Machine wash is best at 30°C inside out
• Do not tumble dry
• Do not iron over printed areas

This is an official Campbell Heritage collaboration, but we do not imply any association or relationship with any brands or manufacturers and it is in no way suggested that this range of clothing is officially approved or authorised by any organisation.