The fastest day in the world

21 July, Louis Rigolly, Gobron-Brillie, car, land speed record, vehicle, engine, bhp, Sunbeam, Sir Malcolm Campbell, Pendine, Ostend, fastOn this day in 1904, Frenchman Louis Rigolly stepped into his Gobron-Brillie, stepped on the accelerator and burned his way into the record books.

His achievement was not only breaking the land speed record, but he also became the first person to top 100mph on land, clocking an impressive 103.56mph along a famous speed driving road in Ostend, Belgium.

His car was a  four-cylinder, eight-piston petrol powered motor car, whose 13,500cc engine threw out an impressive 110bhp. The rear-powered vehicle weighed a shade under 1,000 kg.

21 July, Louis Rigolly, Gobron-Brillie, car, land speed record, vehicle, engine, bhp, Sunbeam, Sir Malcolm Campbell, Pendine, Ostend, fast21 years later, the next big milestone would be reached. Sir Donald Campbell had already taken the land speed record, but wanted to push things a little bit further.

On 21 July, 1925 in Pendine, South Wales, Campbell fired up his Sunbeam and became the first person to smash through the 150mph barrier on land, barrelling along the sands at 150.76mph.

The 350bhp engine that took him to that landmark was a modified 18.322 litre V12. It had a 4-speed gearbox, was 16 feet long and weighed 1,550kg.

For more information and stunning photos of the fastest production car in the world right now, check out the latest issue of How It Works, which you can buy right here or check out all good newsagents and supermarkets.