VGMagazine

     After a bit of sorting on the 21st, Cobb was ready to go on the 22nd. With the weather clear, the salt firm, Cobb headed out. On his first pass he blazed through the measured mile in 9.76 sec, for a recorded speed of 370.75. With fresh tires, a full tank of fuel and the ice chest packed, Cobb made the run in from the south. Into the measured mile, and through, in 9.81 seconds. While he had had Railton build this car with the expectation of reaching 400 miles an hour, he knew the Dunlops had only been tested to withstand 380. His run averaged 369.74. In two years he and Eyston had raised the record by nearly seventy miles an hour, and within ten miles an hour of his tires limit. Engineering would now have to catch up to reach 400 miles an hour, but Eyston would be buying the drinks that winter.
    By the next spring the Schneider engines were in race-bred aircraft and fighting it out over the English channel. For Cobb and Eyston this was only the opening scene, in the dark drama that engulfed the world until 1945. When the dogs of war ceased their howling, Cobb returned to windswept silence of Bonneville to end the challenge between the two friends and rivals. With tires that were lighter, stronger and capable of 400, Railton's aluminum silhouette was set to pass through the lights in 1947.
   After three days of running on questionable salt he made a north run of 385.645. On the south run he entered the mile with wheels spinning, and exited the mile at a blistering 415 miles and hour. His time through the measured mile was 403.135. The post war shortage of tires and the arrival of heavy rains meant this was to be Cobb's last run of the season. With the numbers tallied, the record now stood at 394.196. A record that would stand as the last achieved by a powered Land Speed car; the birth of the jet age meant LSR would now be propelled.
    When the news reached England, Eyston was heard to say, "John's done it."

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   Back on the salt, Eyston had to run a shorted course because of surface irregularities at the edges. This time out both the north run and south run went flawlessly, recording the measured kilometer at 345.21 and the mile average at 345.49. This was a dramatic increase of 33 miles an hour on the previous record.
    Cobb had arrived at Bonneville with Railton and the team, just in time to witness Eyston's record setting run. For the next week Railton went from preliminary testing and adjustments, to fine tuning for Cobb's initial trial runs. On the morning of September 12th Cobb was at the controls and made his first record run. He blasted through the lights on the north run at 353.3, on the return he tripped the lights at 347.2.
"John's got it," said Eyston watching the run.
Cobb's average had broken another Land Speed milestone, Three hundred and fifty miles an hour. Or 350.21 to be precise.
    Eyston hadn't stayed on the salt merely to see his friend challenge his new record, he and his crew had been busy. In an amazing feat of mechanical improvisation and fabrication they had reengineered the Thunderbolt while Railton and Cobb had been testing. They had removed the vertical tailfin, removed the radiators for tank cooling, which allowed them to reshape the front-end, eliminating the drag-producing grill. It was expected that the changes would increase aerodynamic efficiency, without effecting stability. They would soon find out. The day after Cobb had set the record at 350 Eyston rolled the Thunderbolt onto the Flats. It took only four minutes. Once Eyston had climbed out of Thunderbolt it was official. He had upped the ante, 356.4 on the north run, 358.6 on the south. With his average of 357.5 Eyston had taken the record again. Cobb's record had stood a mere 24 hours.
With the chaos of war descending on Europe, Cobb and Railton returned to the isolation of Bonneville in August of '39. Their competition would once again be Eyston's record, the condition of the salt, and a machine that can only be tested in this challenging environment.