It was now the turn of Brooklands racer and ex-Royal Flying Corps Captain Malcolm Campbell to enter the fray. In 1923, Campbell purchased the 350 hp Sunbeam and made various streamlining and mechanical improvements. Following Campbell's already-established tradition, he painted the car blue and named it Bluebird. After two unsuccessful attempts, his determination finally paid off when he broke the record in 1924 with 146.16 mph at Pendine Sands near Camarthen in South Wales. He raised it to 150.766mph in 1925.

Sunbeam's next LSR contender was a far cry from the 18.3-litre Sunbeam with which Campbell had set the record. Again designed by French engineer Louis Coatalen, the new Sunbeam was much lighter, and was powered by a specially-built supercharged V12 engine of only 4 litres in capacity. Major Henry Segrave drove the car at Southport Sands in March 1926 and notched up a new record of 152.33 mph, despite supercharger problems and an enormous leap through the air on the return run.

Another Brooklands racer, Welshman Parry Thomas was a gifted engineer and very talented driver, who bought and rebuilt the huge Liberty aero-engined Higham Special after the death of Count Louis Zabrowsky during the 1924 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He took the car, which he had re-named Babs, to Pendine Sands and on 27th April 1926 set a superb new record of 169.30 mph, which he raised the following day to 171.02 mph.

The new record was certainly a stern challenge for Malcolm Campbell and his brand new Bluebird, which had taken two years to build in his workshops at great expense. Powered by a loaned 23.9-litre V12 Napier Lion aero-engine, he was aiming for three miles a minute - 180 mph - but a bumpy return run at Pendine cost him that goal, and he had to be satisfied with a new record of 174.883 mph in February 1927.

The following month, Parry Thomas was back at Pendine with an improved Babs. During the return run of his record attempt, the car went out of control at over 170 mph and Thomas was killed in the ensuing accident. His tragic death was the first in Land Speed Record history. In accordance with his wishes, Babs was buried in the sand, but in recent years it was exhumed and has been restored to running order.

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