These limited Rolls-Royces pay tribute to a crazy speed record from 1938

By daryl, 25 June 2021

Rolls-Royce has a knack of celebrating historical feats and milestones with cars dressed for the occasion. As if its Black Badge models weren't already didn't already represent the brand at its showy best, the two-door duo – Dawn and Wraith – sitting mighty atop Goodwood's top shelf have been given more special treatment to commemorate a land speed record dating back to pre-WWII times. And it's a big one. 

Between 1937 and 1938, a chap called George Eyston set three world land speed records in Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats with a car called Thunderbolt. It was a rather special car for its time; one strapped with three axles, eight wheels and two Rolls-Royce R supercharged 37-litre V12 aero engines, each capable of 2,000 horsepower. That's 76 litres of engine capacity, 24 cylinders and 4,000 horses in total! 

Only 19 of these engines were ever made. And the ones in Eyston's Thunderbolt previously powered the Supermarine S6.B seaplane that would lay the foundations for the legendary Spitfire. Despite the car tipping the scales at seven tonnes, this pair of plane engines propelled Eyston to a record 575.336kph on his third and last run on Bonneville. The rest is, quite literally, history; the Rolls-Royce engines are now preserved in Britain's Royal Air Force Museum and Science Museum in London. 

rolls-royce landspeed collection
rolls-royce landspeed collection

The Rolls-Royce Landspeed Collection celebrates Eyston's life by drawing plenty of inspiration from his exploits and Thunderbolt, which was sadly lost in a fire in 1946. The two-tone finish on each car comprises of a new Bespoke colour called Bonneville Blue, which has been specially developed for the collection. Rolls-Royce claims the hue 'transitions under sunlight from light blue to silver, illustrating the reflections of both the vast sky over Bonneville and the crisp salt flats on Thunderbolt's aluminium body'. 

The bright yellow accents applied across the limited-edition Wraith and Dawn draw inspiration from the yellow circle Eyston painted on the side of Thunderbolt as photo-electric timing equipment of the time struggled to detect the polished aluminium frame against the reflective white surface of the Salt Flats. This element is visible inside as well, most notably in the yellow outer ring surrounding the clock, which is also etched with Eyston's record speed. And there's many more of these subtle yet meaningful details scattered across the cabin. 

The steering wheel, for one, has a distinct perforated section at 12 o'clock. This pays homage to the darkened track lines Eyston's team painted on the surface to guide him through the course. The Silver Island mountains which occupy the horizon from Bonneville is depicted in the upper 'waterfall' separating both rear seats. On the dashboards and centre consoles of both cars, the fissures of the Bonneville Salt Flats are reproduced in the wood veneer while the Starlight headliner in the Wraith Landspeed uses 2,117 fibre optic 'stars' to recreate the night's sky as it appeared over the Flats on 16 September 1938, the date of Eyston's third and final land-speed record. 

Creating this collection involves a lot of painstaking attention to detail. And Rolls-Royce only plans to produce 35 units of the Wraith Landspeed. The Dawn Landspeed is even more exclusive, with only 25 units slated for production. Which one would you pick if money was no object?