Does any TNFer have definitive information on the ultimate fate of Kaye Don's Sunbeam "Silver Bullet" LSR car of 1930?
This subject was touched upon in an earlier thread on the fate of LSR cars on TNF, but there seemed to be no conclusion reached.
After Kaye Don's unsuccessful attempt on the LSR at Daytona in 1930 when his top speed was 184mph, the car seems to have been passed first to Jack Field who tried to get the car to run on Southport beach in 1934. There is a splendid photo of the car on fire at Southport in Posthumus & Tremayne's 1985 book, "Land Speed Record"
"Silver Bullet" then passed to Freddie Dixon (for the sum of just £10 it is claimed) who removed the troublesome supercharger and induction system and replaced them with multi-carburettors before giving up on the beast.
What then happened to the "Silver Bullet" ?
Tony
Kaye Don's LSR 'Silver Bullet'
Started by
taylov
, May 29 2008 17:32
3 replies to this topic
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#2
JB Miltonian
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Posted 29 May 2008 - 18:49
I took a look in the old index and found an article in Car & Driver, October 1961, concerning the "Silver Bullet". According to author Dennis May:
"When the car was finally sold for scrap by Fred Dixon, it reportedly realized $1800, roughly the by-weight value of its constituent materials."
Sorry if this was already mentioned in the earlier thread, which I have not read.
"When the car was finally sold for scrap by Fred Dixon, it reportedly realized $1800, roughly the by-weight value of its constituent materials."
Sorry if this was already mentioned in the earlier thread, which I have not read.
#3
taylov
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- 624 posts
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Posted 29 May 2008 - 19:02
Thank you. Whilst others have suggested that the car was indeed scrapped, you've added information missing from other references to the "Silver Bullet"
Tony
Tony
#4
JB Miltonian
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Posted 29 May 2008 - 19:20
From an article on Fred Dixon, again written by Dennis May, in "Sports Cars Illustrated", April 1957:
"This was Fred's second abortive Land Speed Record project. Earlier, he had bought and experimented with the Silver Bullet, a 1200 horsepower jinx built originally for an LSR bid by Kaye Don. Dixon finally decided that if the Bullet's transmission broke up, as it was apparently liable to, it would certainly castrate the driver and probably divide him geometrically down the middle. He therefore sold the car for scrap."
"This was Fred's second abortive Land Speed Record project. Earlier, he had bought and experimented with the Silver Bullet, a 1200 horsepower jinx built originally for an LSR bid by Kaye Don. Dixon finally decided that if the Bullet's transmission broke up, as it was apparently liable to, it would certainly castrate the driver and probably divide him geometrically down the middle. He therefore sold the car for scrap."
