Railton Special
title: "Railton Special" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vehicles-designed-by-reid-railton", "vehicles-powered-by-napier-lion-engines", "wheel-driven-land-speed-record-cars", "1938-in-motorsport", "cars-powered-by-aircraft-engines", "collection-of-thinktank,-birmingham"] topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railton_Special" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox automobile"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Railton Special with the shell lifted march 2015.JPG |
| caption | The Railton Mobil Special on display at the Thinktank Museum, Birmingham. |
| name | Railton Special, |
| later the Railton Mobil Special | |
| production | 1 |
| body_style | streamlined fully enclosed "turtle shell" |
| engine | Twin Napier Lion W-12 aero engines |
| transmission | Separate drives to front and rear axles |
| length | 28 ft |
| width | 8 ft |
| height | 4 ft |
| weight | over 3 tonnes |
| designer | Reid Railton |
| :: |
| image =Railton Special with the shell lifted march 2015.JPG | caption = The Railton Mobil Special on display at the Thinktank Museum, Birmingham. | name = Railton Special, later the Railton Mobil Special | production =1 | body_style =streamlined fully enclosed "turtle shell" | layout = | platform = | engine =Twin Napier Lion W-12 aero engines | transmission =Separate drives to front and rear axles | wheelbase = | length = 28 ft | width = 8 ft | height = 4 ft | weight =over 3 tonnes | designer =Reid Railton ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Railton_Mobil_Special_Lledo_toy.JPG" caption="Modern [[Lledo]] toy of the ''Railton Mobil Special''"] ::
The Railton Special, later rebuilt as the Railton Mobil Special, is a one-off motor vehicle designed by Reid Railton and built for John Cobb's successful attempts at the land speed record in 1938.
It is currently on display at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, England.
Design
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Railton_Special_1947_(RM_avec_John_Cobb_à_634.39_kmh).jpg" caption=""] ::
The vehicle was powered by two supercharged Napier Lion VIID (WD) W-12 aircraft engines.400 MPH on Land, Motor 24 September 1947 reproduced in {{cite book |title=The Land Speed Record 1940-1962 |publisher=Brooklands Books |author=Compiled by R M Clarke |date=17 September 2000 |isbn=1-85520-516-5 |title=The Fast Set |author=Charles Jennings |isbn=0-349-11596-6 |publisher=Abacus |year=2005
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/John_Cobb_en_1939.jpg" caption="John Cobb]] in the cockpit"] ::
The vehicle weighed over 3 tonnes and was 28 ft long, 8 ft wide and 4 ft high. The front wheels were 5 ft apart and the rear 3 ft. The National Physical Laboratory's wind tunnel was used for testing models of the body.
Land speed record
On 15 September 1938, the Railton Special took the land speed record from Thunderbolt at 353.30 mi/h, also being the first to break the 350 mi/h barrier. Eyston re-took the record within 24 hours (357.50 mph / 575.34 km/h), holding it again until Cobb took it a year later on 23 August 1939 at a speed of 369.70 mi/h.
Further development
After the Second World War further development and sponsorship by Mobil Oil led to renaming as the Railton Mobil Special. It was the first ground vehicle to break 400 mi/h in a measured test. On 16 September 1947 John Cobb averaged 394.19 mi/h over the measured mile in both directions (385.6 & 403.1) to take the world land speed record, before the American Goldenrod set a new mark for piston-engined, wheel-driven LSR cars eighteen years later.
Notes
References
- {{cite web |url = http://www.birminghamstories.co.uk/story_page.php?id=4&type=fo&page=1&now=0 |title = The fastest car in the world |publisher = Birmingham Stories |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060513083434/http://birminghamstories.co.uk/story_page.php?id=4&type=fo&page=1&now=0 |archive-date = 13 May 2006
- {{cite web |url=http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/History/Railton.html |title=Railton Mobil Special |publisher=Thrust SCC
- {{cite web |url = http://www.thinktank.ac/aboutus/press_stories/pressstory2001_07_01_d.htm |title = World's fastest car makes its slowest journey to new home |publisher = ThinkTank |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070311033822/http://www.thinktank.ac/aboutus/press_stories/pressstory2001_07_01_d.htm |archive-date = 11 March 2007
- {{cite web |publisher = brooklandsarchives.com |title = Railton Special at Brooklands, probably in 1938 |url = http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_N2/target36.html |access-date = 28 August 2008 |archive-date = 20 October 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191020120008/http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_N2/target36.html |url-status = dead
- {{cite web |publisher = brooklandsarchives.com |title = Railton Special at Brooklands, probably in 1938 |url = http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_N2/target37.html |access-date = 28 August 2008 |archive-date = 20 October 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191020120025/http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_N2/target37.html |url-status = dead
References
- Accession number: 1955S00519.00001
- Paul Clifton, ''The Fastest Men on Earth: The Men and Cars That Smashed the World Land Speed Record'', London: Herbert Jenkins, 1964
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