Duesenberg Milton Land Speed Record
The Milton Duesenberg land speed record was set on April 27, 1920 by racing driver Thomas "Tommy" Milton . For this experiment, he and Duesenberg developed a vehicle with two racing engines standing next to each other. Milton achieved an average speed of 155.342 mph (250,000 km / h) for the flying kilometer and 156.046 mph (251.133 km / h) for the flying mile while driving the test section on the beach at Daytona Beach , setting a new land speed record. The record was not recognized internationally by the AIACR in Paris as it was only driven in one direction. It was a valid attempt for the US AAA . The record officially existed in the United States until 1926. It was unofficially outbid in 1922.
history
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As early as 1916, Milton began to think about attempting a world record. For this purpose he concluded an agreement with Fred Duesenberg to build a corresponding vehicle. It was agreed that Milton should bear a large part of the costs and development. But it wasn't until 1919 that he was able to deal more intensively with this idea. It can be assumed that Ralph DePalma's successful record attempt in the same year spurred Milton on to finally put his attempt into practice.
An extended hospital stay in 1919 gave Milton plenty of time to develop the record-breaking vehicle, and after his discharge in November of the same year, construction began in the Duesenberg factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The vehicle should have two current racing engines (300 cuin ) side by side and it was planned to use them in the record car after the last race. Despite the fact that work on the car had to be interrupted due to various races, the car was ready for testing in February 1920. Overall, it took Milton more than a year from sketches to the finished car.
The last race for racing cars with 300 cuin engines took place on March 28, 1920 at Los Angles Speedway in Beverly Hills, California, as new regulations came into force from then on. The two engines of Milton's and Murphy's racing cars were then used in the record-breaking car and tested on the speedway. It turned out that the car drove well in principle, but a lot of work was still needed on the coordination of the engines and on the transmission. Shortly after the test runs, the record-breaking car was brought to Daytona Beach to be able to match the vehicle to the track at the location where the record attempt was made. Milton instructed Murphy and the other mechanics on how to continue working with the car as he wanted to travel to Havana for another race.
How well Murphy, Fred Duesenberg and the mechanics then tuned the car, he found out after his return from Cuba on April 18, 1920 from the newspaper. It was reported there that Murphy had achieved an average speed of 152 to 153 mph on the flying mile in an unofficial attempt, surpassing DePalma's record by a good 2 mph. It must be mentioned that Fred Duesenberg motivated Murphy to run such a fast run without them realizing that they were being watched by the newspaper. This incident led to an argument between Milton, Duesenberg and Murphy, at the end of which Murphy left the beach and the relationship between Duesenberg and Milton was permanently disrupted.
"Can you imagine how I felt, learning that my car, built with my sweat and money, had been driven to a new world record by the fellow I had hired to get it ready for me!"
“Can you imagine how I felt seeing my car, built with my sweat and money, driven to a new world record by someone I hired to get it ready for me! "
When Milton later tested the record-breaking car, he found that the sand and salt from the previous test runs hindered the engine and the car from developing its power. He then decided to mainly dismantle the engines, clean them and replace damaged parts.
On April 25, 1920, Milton made his first attempts and surpassed DePalmas records in the ratings up to 5 miles. Then he was convinced that the record-breaking vehicle was now ready to attempt the record on the flying mile. Starting off, Milton drove the Twin Duesenberg into the test section on April 27, 1920 on Daytona Beach. During this test, the extreme heat of the two engines and the exhaust of the left engine running between them ignited oil, fuel and other flammable material under the engine hood, which had gotten onto the base plate under the engines. Even so, Milton managed to successfully complete the attempt, and after stopping the car the fire was quickly extinguished.
There are various statements in the sources about this incident. While some sources describe what happened without a time limit, there are others who set the outbreak of fire halfway through the flying mile, and still others who see the point in time after the flying mile and in the third mile.
In some of the photos taken after the attempt, you can clearly see a round area roughly in the middle of the bonnet. At this point, the paint on the hood was burned by the fire below. In this record run, Milton achieved an average speed of 156.046 mph on the flying mile with the Twin Duesenberg.
The record
introduction
The land speed record is, strictly speaking, a route record . The time required to drive through is measured over a distance of one mile and / or one kilometer (both measurements are normally made during the same test). From this the average speed is determined and this is then the land speed record. So it is not the absolute maximum speed that was determined, which was higher in many of the record vehicles of the time, including the Milton Twin Duesenberg, but who is the fastest to cover the distance. (More on this in The Record Vehicle below.)
Track records and the resulting speed records accompanied the racing drivers at every race. All racing drivers with powerful racing cars sooner or later set such records and these in turn led to corresponding headlines in the press. The British magazine The Autocar wrote in its issue of February 21, 1920 that three world speed records were set in the USA in 1919. T. Milton on Duesenberg was on the Sheepshead Bay Track the 10 miles in 5 minutes 20.2 seconds (112.4 mph), Ralph DePalma on Packard on the same race course the 50 miles in 26 minutes 23.4 seconds (113.7 mph) and Gaston Chevrolet on Fontenac drove the 100 miles in 54 minutes 17.8 seconds (110.53 mph).
In 1911, the AIACR implemented new regulations for the international recognition of a world record attempt. It was now more difficult to set a new record. Among other things, the two-way rule applied, which prescribed the return trip for recognition of the attempt in order to avoid the z. B. slope or wind were exploited. Both runs were then added and divided by two. Before Milton's attempt, there was only one attempt on June 24, 1914 with 29.01 seconds for the flying mile, which was recognized under the new rules. This was improved to 26.14 seconds in 1923. There was a kind of parallel between the record attempts until the end of the 1920s the rules of the AIACR were also applied in the USA.
Measurement and recognition
The times were officially measured and validated by the AAA by Fred J. Wagner. The recognition by the international authority AIACR did not materialize because the attempt was only driven in one direction.
Milton completed the flying kilometer in 14.40 seconds. The average speed is therefore 155.342 mph (250,000 km / h). For the flying mile, it was the American mile with 1609.3472 meters, 23.07 seconds were measured, which corresponds to an average speed of 156.046 mph (251.133 km / h). When calculating the speeds, the calculation was not rounded off after the third decimal place.
The record vehicle
designation
The car was officially given no name. This means that there are different terms in the literature. Some pictures taken immediately after the record attempt are labeled Milton Twin Duesenberg or just Twin Duesenberg.
Team and locations
The vehicle was mainly designed by Tommy Milton. Construction took place at Duesenberg in Elizabeth, New Jersey and with the support of Fred and Augie Duesenberg. The chief engineer and draftsman William R. Beckman and the mechanics and racing drivers Jimmy Murphy and Harry Hartz also worked. For the maintenance of the car on Daytona Beach, a tent with a wooden floor was erected to protect it from wind and sand.
chassis
The chassis was custom made. It could accommodate two engines side by side. The cooler for both engines was installed in front of the engines. The steering was between the engines. Above the steering column, the exhaust from the left engine ran towards the driver and turned right behind the right engine. Only the dashboard separated the driver from the exhaust. This type of routing meant that both exhaust pipes were on the right side of the car. Each engine had a clutch, a cardan shaft and an axle drive. Both axle drives were integrated in one housing and jointly drove the rear axle. The vehicle did not have a manual transmission. However, a selectable reverse gear was installed in order to comply with the AAA regulations.
body
The record car had a streamlined body with a wedge-shaped radiator grille and a long tail tapering upwards. The single-seat cockpit was open with a small windshield. The wheels are free-standing and the spokes were covered with fabric for the record attempt. To improve aerodynamics, the vehicle had an underbody. The body color was dark red.
Technical specifications
Information on dimensions and weight have not been handed down. There is only some technical data from the racing engines.
| Duesenberg racing engine 300 cuin | |
|---|---|
| engine | 8-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke), 3 valves per cylinder (one intake and two exhaust valves) |
| Displacement | 296.9 cuin (4865 cc) |
| Bore × stroke | 3 × 5.25 in (76.2 × 133.35 mm) |
| Power at 1 / min | 92 HP (69 kW) at 3800 |
| Valve control | central camshaft with vertical shaft drive, rocker arm |
| cooling | Water cooling |
The top speed
Milton and Duesenberg estimated the top speed of the record-breaking car to be around 180 mph (about 290 km / h). How fast he really drove cannot be determined from today's perspective, as it is not known how much speed the Twin Duesenberg entered the measuring section. The only thing that can be said is that the car achieved an average speed of 250,000 km / h for the first 1000 meters and an average speed of 251.133 km / h after 1609.3472 meters (one mile). This means that the vehicle was faster than 251.133 km / h.
Review
Milton
In 1920 Milton left the Duesenberg team after his contract expired. Before that he finished third in the Indianapolis 500 for Dusenberg.
On April 14, 1924, Milton attempted another record on Muroc Dry Lake in California with the Miller 122/183 Convertible, in the configuration with a 183 cuin engine. This time he completed the mile in 23.8 s (151.260 mph, 243.430 km / h) and missed his record by 0.73 seconds.
record
On April 6, 1922, the American Sigurd Olson outbid "Sig" Haugdahl on the Wisconsin Special Milton's record. On the beach at Daytona Beach, he completed the flying mile in 13.8 seconds (162.096 mph, 260.869 km / h) and the flying mile in 19.97 seconds (180.270 mph, 290.117 km / h). Neither the international nor the American leaders recognized the achievement. The AAA rejected it because it was not they but the IMCA ( International Motor Contest Association ) who had measured it. The return trip was missing for the AIACR in Paris.
A faster world record was not set until April 27, 1926. John G. Perry Thomas on Higham-Thomas Special called Babs drove the flying kilometer in 13.213 (169.297 mph, 272.458 km / h) on Pendine Beach in Wales and the flying mile, it was the British mile with 1609.344 meters, in 21.419 seconds (168.074 mph, 270.490 km / h). This world record was also recognized internationally by the AIACR. The following day, Perry Thomas was able to improve his record to 13.080 (171.019 mph, 275.229 km / h) and 21.099 seconds (170.624 mph, 274.593 km / h).
vehicle
After the successful attempt, the car stayed with Duesenberg and stood for a while in a workshop in Indianapolis. It got a light paint job and the label "Duesenberg World's Record Car". At the latest since Cord took over Duesenberg, the car has been considered lost.
Remarks
- ↑ Ralph DePalma on a Packard 905 not only set the flying mile record on February 12, 1919, but shortly thereafter declared that Packard would surpass all other records set up on the beach at Daytona Beach, which he also did the following week implemented. An American, in an American car, won the records on American soil. This contrasted positively with suffering from war and Spanish flu at the time.
- ↑ It is not clear whether English HP or American HP. The sources do not go into this. The kw specification can be found in many publications and obviously relates to the conversion from British HP to kw.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j World record vehicles from 1898 to today , Ferdinand CW Käsmann, Verlag W. Kohlhammer GmbH, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-17-008459-3 , p. 9, 38-65.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Duesenberg-Milton Land Speed Record Car website from OLD MACHINE PRESS. Retrieved October 7, 2018
- ↑ a b c d e f g automobile Quarterly Volume VIII Number 2 , Al Bloemker, Automobile Quarterly Inc., New York, 1969, pp. 160-177
- ↑ a b c d e The Land Speed Record 1898-1919 , RM Clarke, Brooklands Books LTD., Surrey, ISBN 1855205130 , pp. 133-135
- ↑ a b c d e f The Land Speed Record 1920-1929 , RM Clarke, Brooklands Books LTD., Surrey, ISBN 1855205149 , pp. 6-7
- ↑ a b c A history of the world's racing cars , Richard Hough & Michael Frostick, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London 1965, p. 45.
- ↑ 1924 Miller 122/183 website of Conceptcarz.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018
- ↑ 1924 Miller 122/183 Convertible Speed Record Car website from RM Sotheby's. Retrieved November 21, 2018
- ^ Sig Haugdahl and the Wisconsin Special website of Silodrome Gasoline Culture. Retrieved November 22, 2018
- ^ Pendine Museum of Speed Website of the Pendine Community Council. Retrieved November 22, 2018