MOST POWERFUL CAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 January 1940, Page 2

MOST POWERFUL CAR

A SUPER SPEED MACHINE. EXHIBITION FEATURE. The world renowned "Thunderbolt.’’ which was driven over Utah’s salt flats at 345.49 miles an hour by Captain George E. T. Eyston. has arrived at the Centennial Exhibition and is now on view. After creating a record, Captain Eyston expressed the opinion that man would probably never travel much faster than six miles a minute on land. He believes that speed on wheels is limited to about 360 miles an hour because racing tires as they exist today cannot withstand much greater strain. At six miles a minute the outside of a tire is travelling at about 700 miles an hour —almost the speed of sound. If it, were not completely shielded, the wind alone would rip it open. Eyston’s “Thunderbolt,” the most powerful car in the world, has two twelve-cylinder Rolls Royce engines developing a total of 3,600 h.p. The “Thunderbolt’s" engines are mountedside by side and deliver power to dualdrive wheels at the rear. The car, on display at the Exhibition, needs only oil and petrol to make it go—the six engines and equipment are complete in every detail. Special air brakes in the form of flaps sunk into the top of the hull elevate at right angles to the body to provide a sudden uniform air resistance to slow down the car before hydraulic brakes are applied.