Land speed record car Babs returns to beach for centenary
The car took to the sands of Pendine, 100 years after a Welsh racing driver set a World land speed record.
More than 2,000 people turned up at Pendine Sands to see Babs' return [BBC] A racing car famous for breaking the land speed record has returned to Carmarthenshire to mark its centenary. The car, known as Babs, set a world record on the sands of Pendine 100 years ago with Welsh racing driver JG Parry-Thomas behind the wheel. He reached an average speed of 170mph (273 km/h) in April 1926, smashing records set at Southport by Henry Segrave the previous month and Malcolm Campbell at Pendine in 1925.
On Monday, more than 2,000 people turned up to see Babs at Pendine, including several members of Parry-Thomas's family. In April 1926, Parry-Thomas became the first person to break the 170mph barrier [Getty Images] In the 1920s, Pendine Sands became famous in the World Land Speed record story as one of the few places where such speeds could be reached. Campbell set a previous record there in 1925 when he hit a speed of 150mph (241 km/h), which was superseded by Segrave with 152mph (244 km/h) in March 1926.
The following month, Parry-Thomas became the first person to break the 170mph barrier. With two runs of the beach, Babs - a 27 -itre, aero-engined car - he broke the existing record with speeds of 169. 30mph (271 km/h) and 171.
02mph (275 km/h). The record was broken a year later in January 1927 when Campbell clocked in at just under 175 mph (281 km/h). Parry-Thomas attempted to reclaim the record two months later but died after Babs rolled at high speed.