Raymond Mays meets
Sir Malcolm Campbell

One of the great names, perhaps the greatest, in motor racing between the wars was that of Malcolm (later Sir Malcolm) Campbell (1885–1948), hero of every schoolboy of the time who established new world speed records on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Bluebird.

With two men so closely associated with the advancement of the motor car, it was inevitable that he and Raymond Mays would meet, usually at race meetings.

Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent in 1885 and competed in international motor racing events, winning the 1927 and 1928 Grand Prix de Boulogne in France driving a Bugatti T39A. Between 1924 and 1935, he broke nine land speed records, the last at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, on 3rd September 1935 when he became the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour. He set the water speed record four times, the highest speed being 141.740 mph in the Bluebird K4T at Coniston Water on 19th August 1939.

He received a knighthood in 1931 for his distinguished achievements when he was acknowledged as the most successful racing driver of his time and was dubbed "the speed king", his portrait appearing in magazines and on cigarette cards.

Campbell died after a long illness in 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, aged 63 years, one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, as so many had died in crashes while his versatile racing in different vehicles made him internationally famous. His son, Donald, was killed in 1967 attempting to repeat his achievements.

One of his meetings with Raymond Mays is recorded on photograph at the Shelsley Walsh circuit in Worcestershire, the world's oldest motor sport venue that is still used after more than a century of hill climbing. The circuit was a favourite with Mays and it was here that he was pictured chatting with Campbell after an event in May 1935.

During the meeting, dry weather helped Mays' cars beat 40 seconds for the first time in the then 30-year history of the hill climb, his 1.5 litre ERA clocking 39.8 seconds and a 2 litre ERA 39.6 seconds while Campbell's 4 litre Sunbeam did 44.9 seconds. The photograph shows a discussion after the event between (left to right) Mays, Campbell and the racing driver Earl Howe.

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