Craig Breedlove (March 23, 1937 – April 4, 2023) was an American professional race car driver and a five-time world land speed record holder.

[1] In 1962,[2] he made his first attempt, in a freewheeling tricycle (ignoring FIA rules requiring four wheels, at least two driven; in the event, FIM happily accepted it)[2] powered by a General Electric J47 turbojet engine.

[2] This pass was not without incident, however, for one of his drogue parachute's shroud lines parted, and Spirit of America ran on for 5 mi (8.0 km) before hitting a telegraph pole and coming to rest in a lake.

[4] During 1968, Lynn Garrison, President of Craig Breedlove & Associates, started to package a deal that saw Utah's Governor, Calvin Rampton, provide a hangar facility for the construction of a supersonic car.

high (13.67 m by 2.54 m by 1.78 m) and weighs 9,000 lb (4,082 kg), construction is on a steel tube or space frame with an aluminium skin body.

[8] In late 2006, Breedlove sold the car to Steve Fossett, who planned to attempt the land speed record in 2007.

[10] Breedlove's vehicle, renamed the "Sonic Arrow", was rolled out on the Black Rock Desert for a photo opportunity on October 15, 2007.

[11] Breedlove was put on the payroll at American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1968 to prepare the automaker's pony and high-performance cars, the Javelin and the AMX, for speed and endurance records.

[12] In January 1968, one month before the official introduction of the AMX model, Breedlove, his wife Lee, and Ron Dykes,[13] established fourteen United States Automobile Club (USAC) and Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) certified speed records for cars of any engine size, and 106 national and international speed and endurance records for cars with less than 488 cu in (8.0 L).

[18] Later in the year, American Motors entered three similarly equipped Javelins with 343 cu in (5.6 L) AMC V8 engines in the C/Production class at Bonneville.

[24] The Beach Boys' song "Spirit of America" was "inspired by Breedlove's land speed record, set in 1963.