Background
Malcolm Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent on 11 March 1885, the only son of William Campbell, a Hatton Garden diamond seller.
Malcolm Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent on 11 March 1885, the only son of William Campbell, a Hatton Garden diamond seller.
Malcolm Campbell attended the independent Uppingham School. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to Britain, he worked for two years at Lloyd's of London for no pay, then for another year at £1 a week.
Campbell set his first record when he drove 146. 16 mph (235. 22 km/h) in 1924.
He broke the world record with a 206. 956 mph (333. 063 km/h) run at Daytona Beach in 1928, and his own mark with 245. 735 mph (395. 472 km/h) on the same course on Feb. 5, 1931, a feat for which he was knighted.
Driving his famed automobile Bluebird at Bonneville Flats, Utah, in 1935, Sir Malcolm was the first to reach the 300 mi (483 km) per hr mark.
Malcolm Campbell then turned to speedboat racing and in 1939 set a new record of 141 mi per hr.
Malcolm Campbell gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam.
