Triumph's History With The Land Speed Record - A Timeline

1903 - First ever unofficial land speed record set at 64m/h (103 km/h) by a motorcycle by Glenn Curtiss in an aircraft engine propelled Motorcycle.

The Curtiss

1954 - Triumph's association with land speed records begin. Three builders from Texas - Jack Wilson, Pete Dalio and Stormy Mangham begin building the Devil's Arrow Streamliner in a bid to outdo the German NSU team. Their main aim was to ensure the German's did not have the world record.

The Devil's Arrow

1955 - The trio continues building the bike from whatever they can find. This includes parts from a tractor and cultivator. The final design features a 650cc Thunderbird engine.

1956 - Flat-track rider Johnny Allen takes the Devil's Arrow on special tyres and methanol to a speed record of 193.7m/h (311.7km/h). FIM refuses to ratify an AMA-sanctioned record.

1956 - Not to be outdone, the NSU team comes to Bonneville with a 500cc supercharged streamliner and sets a record of 211.4m/h (340.2km/h). This bike was ridden by Wilhelm Herz

The Texas Cee-Gar

1956 - The Texas team returns to the salts to regain the title, this time officially. Their newly rebuilt and rechristened Texas Cee-Gar with a more potent Thunderbird engine sets an official record of 214.5m/h (345.3km/h). This record would stand till 1962.

1962 - Aircraft mechanic Joe Dudek brings a streamlined T120 powered bike to Bonneville. After setting a gasoline powered record of 205m/h (330km/h), they drain the engine, re-calibrate the jetting on the carbs and use nitro methane to set a new outright world speed record of 224.57m/h (361.41km/h).

The Gyronaut X-1

1965 - Automotive designer Alex Tremulis and Triumph Dealer Bob Leppan being an advanced streamliner called the Gyronaut X-1 to Bonneville with two 641cc Triumph TR6 engines with a total of 140bhp. The bike features special tyres, a parachute and a custom three-piece fibreglass body. The bike, built as a whopping $100,000 breaks the gasoline powered record at 217.624m/h (350.23km/h) before crashing.

1966 - With a full rebuild and some modifications, the Gyronaut returns to the salt flats setting an outright record of 245.667m/h (395.362km/h) becoming the world's fastest motorcycle. This would end Triumph's tryst with the land speed records and the Bonneville salt flats until their return in 2016.

Triumph Rocket Streamliner 2016

2016 - Triumph returns to the Bonneville salt flats with one aim in mind. To beat the Ack-Attack team whose record has stood for nearly a decade. The record at 376.363m/h is one of the longest standing motorcycle land speed records in history and has been set using a twin Suzuki Hayabusa engined chassis based streamliner. Team Triumph plans to break the record with anything higher than 377m/h but Guy Martin personally aims for 400m/h which is a blistering 644k/h!