Background
John was born on December 2, 1899, in Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom.
John was born on December 2, 1899, in Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom.
John was educated at Eton and Cambridge and later became a fur broker.
Cobb became interested in automobile racing after World War I but did not gain international fame until Sept. 15, 1938, at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, when he set a new automobile speed record of 350.2 mph (563.6 km/h) (the official record is an average of two runs in opposite directions over a measured mile). On Aug. 23, 1939, at Bonneville, he again broke the record, setting a mark of 368.9 mph (593.7 km/h). During World War II Cobb served with the Royal Air Force and as a ferry pilot, but after the war he returned to racing automobiles and, later, motorboats. He set a new automobile mark of 394.196 mph (634.397 km/h) on Sept. 16, 1947, at Bonneville, and on his first run did 403.135 mph (648.783 km/h) to become the first man ever to exceed 400 mph (640 km/h) on land. On Sept. 29, 1952, at Loch Ness, Scotland, Cobb attempted to break the motorboat speed record of 178.497 mph (287.263 km/h) in a specially built jet-propelled boat. On his first run he averaged 206.89 mph (332.96 km/h), the first time 200 mph (320 km/h) had been bettered on water, but just after completing the run and before the officially required return run could be made, his motorboat broke apart and Cobb was killed.