Success, Napier Campbell Bluebird II, Pendine Sands, 195 mph, World Record

Success ! ... more

by Thomas Pollart

Title

Success, Napier Campbell Bluebird II, Pendine Sands, 195 mph, World Record

Artist

Thomas Pollart

Medium

Painting

Description

Success !

Original art & design.

Whether it be building a car or completing a work of art, there is nothing more exciting and fulfilling than successfully finishing the concept and have it turn out better than you ever expected or imagined !

The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic Leo Villa supervised its construction.

This was Campbell's first car to use the Napier Lion aero engine. His intention was to surpass his previous Sunbeam Blue Bird's achievement of the 150 mph barrier and to reach 200 mph.

Blue Bird in 1927
When first built, the car used a Napier Lion engine of around 500 bhp. It was of conventional form with a front-mounted vertical radiator and the driver behind the engine. The three banks of the W-12 engine were hidden behind bulges in the narrow bonnet, with exhaust stub pipes protruding .

Bluebird's first record attempt was on 4 February 1927 at Pendine Sands. A peak speed of 195 mph (314 km/h) was achieved, tantalizingly close to the magic 200 mph (320 km/h), but the two-way average recorded for the record was lower, at 174.883 mph (281.45 km/h).

Heavily influenced by the legendary, Jack Vettriano, whose style has been compared to those of Hopper and Sickert, and his scudded beaches to those of Boudin. In many of his paintings, there is a hidden narrative, in enigmatic compositions, a starting point for dozens of short stories which I did my best to create .

Uploaded

December 8th, 2020