[Video] This V12 Sunbeam Tiger set a Land Speed Record in 1925 | GRR
The Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard is a showcase not only for the world’s newest cars, it’s also an opportunity for us to experience the earliest chapters of motoring history. And that’s what we have here, a car that set a Land Speed Record of 145mph in 1925.
It’s the Sunbeam Tiger, a pre-war monster with a supercharged 4.0-litre V12 producing 306PS (225kW) that we can only imagine is slightly terrifying to drive, especially in extremely wet conditions on a challenging hillclimb.
Friend of Goodwood Patrick Blakeney-Edwards was the man behind the wheel, and we caught up with him to find out a little bit more about what it takes to tame a beast like this. Controlling torque demand without the aid of a differential, maintaining fuel pressure, managing a pre-selection gearbox all while keeping the thing moving at a fairly significant pace.
It all sounds like quite a handful, which is why we have such huge respect for drivers like Patrick who get these incredibly complex and tricky cars up and running for us all to experience in the metal.