Morning meeting place: Meet at 10 AM at the Albertson's mini-mall at 11012 Canyon Rd. E., Puyallup, WA 98373 for our morning Starbuck's caffeination. Meet in front of the small Starbuck's sign. We will then caravan to the tour location to arrive together. It would be helpful for you all to print out your own maps from this Albertson's/Starbuck's location to the tour location address, in case we should get separated. Tour Location and Time: 11 AM at 21124 44th Ave. E., Spanaway, WA 98387 There are few things "more British" than historic automotive Land Speed Record attempts. Names like John Cobb, George Eyston, Sir Henry Segrave, and Sir Malcolm and Donald Campbell are part of a legacy of English that have succeeded in their attempts. The "friendly" rivalry between the British and Americans started with the arrival of Mickey Thompson, Bill and Don Summers, Craig Breedlove, Art Arfons, and Gary Gabelich. Gabelich held the record for many years in his rocket-powered Blue Flame until 1983, when a young Richard Noble from England surpassed it.The current World Land Speed Record is currently held by a well-funded British team owned by Noble. Royal Air Force pilot and driver, Andy Green, set the standard back in 1997 by officially breaking the "sound" barrier and reaching a speed of 763 MPH on the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. (see attached youtube video).Literally in our back yard in Spanaway, a small low-budget group of skilled volunteers, called the North American Eagle Supersonic Land Speed Challenger Team, has been carefully designing, building, and testing a special vehicle to challenge this record. They remind me a lot of the late Art Arfon's Green Monster record breaking team, who were famous for making due and succeeding with what they had at a minimal cost. This Eagle team has plans of reaching a speed of 800 MPH to break the existing record. The late American millionaire Steve Fosset was also to be involved in an upcoming LSR attempt, using a modified version of Craig Breedlove's last Spirit of America car. However, he was killed in a plane crash scouting for a suitable location with enough room for this high speed effort. It is unknown at this time whether his project will continue.We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the aircraft hanger and shop that the Eagle LSR craft was built in, check out the car, meet the crew members and driver Ed Schadle, and ask any and all questions about this monster 60 foot long vehicle. We will be the last people to see the crew and car before they head south for another 500 MPH test session, probably in California, and a possible record attempt if conditions are correct. Evergreen Lotus Car Club is proud to be a supporter of this incredible effort. I don't think anybody in the club should miss this unique opportunity. Be sure to drive your Lotus, as the crew is excited about us coming and wants to see our cars as well! www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=LKQ-xj5C2m8&NR=1www.landspeed.com/
