Spirit of America (automobile)

Spirit of America was the first of the modern record breaking jet-propelled cars,[citation needed] built with a narrow streamlined fuselage, three-wheel chassis, and, most significantly, turbojet engine.

The first Spirit had a General Electric J47 engine from an F-86 and was tested at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962, where difficult handling resulted in failure.

At the time of Spirit of America's construction the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rules for a land speed record required four wheels.

In setting the new record, at the end of his second run, the Spirit lost its braking parachutes, skidding for five miles (8 km), through a row of telephone poles and crashing into a brine pond at around 200 mph (320 km/h).

The engine is the same as in the second Spirit, a GE J79, but it is modified to burn unleaded gasoline and generates a maximum thrust of 22,650 lbf (100.8 kN).

Breedlove sold the Spirit of America Formula Shell LSRV to Steve Fossett, holder of many sailing, ballooning and other aviation records, and the car was undergoing rebuilding in hopes of some preliminary shakedown runs in late September 2007 at Bonneville.

[2] The Spirit of America Sonic Arrow, as it was rechristened by Fossett, was rolled out on the Black Rock Desert for a photo opportunity on October 15, 2007.