Full Throttle

One of my early teen years hero’s has passed, Art Arfons exploits as one of the fastest men on the planet inspired myself and many thousands more in a career of speed that lasted many decades and took many forms.

That adoration was shared by my older brother who purchased one of slightly over 7000 Sunbeam Tigers ever built in 1966. Boasting a transplanted Ford 260 cubic-inch, 164 horsepower V-8 engine (Thanks to legend Carrol Shelby) it tripped the 60 mph mark in just under 8 seconds.

Pretty heady stuff for the times, especially when one could imagine being Maxwell Smart with the beautiful Agent 99 sitting beside you. But I digress.

Although he is he is known for setting the unlimited Land Speed Record three times, Art Arfons made significant contributions to drag racing, tractor pulling (Video of his jet tractor) and powerboat racing during a five decade career.

Arfons was an unlikely champion. With only three years of high school and no formal engineering experience, he decided to build his own car after attending his first drag race in the early ’50s. His second car set a world record its first time out, and from that point on he was hooked on speed, debuting a newer, faster car every year or two through the late ’50s and ’60s. His brother Walt also raced, and for years the two topped each other’s records, breaking speeds of 200, 300, 400 and 500 mph.

From 1963 - 1965, he staged an epic Bonneville Salt Flats battle with Craig Breedlove that saw the Land Speed Record change hands six times. Arfons ultimately upped his average to 576.553, only to watch Breedlove raise the mark to 600.601. Ten days later, Art was timed at 615 mph before losing a wheel and surviving one of the most violent crashes in motorsports history.

Arfons is an inducted member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, National Tractor Puller Association Hall of Fame and the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame.

The Half-Vast Staff of Full Throttle mourns the loss of one of the true pioneers of speed.

R.I.P. Art Arfons.