blitzen

This picture appears to have been taken at Daytona Beach, Florida. Long before Daytona was associated with NASCAR it was the place to go to set land speed records. The hard-packed sand was excellent for this purpose. Actually, most racers started in Ormand Beach and drove toward the pier at Daytona. As speeds increased, it became difficult to negotiate the tight fit under the pier. Eventually those attempting land speed records turned to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Burnam set speed records for the mile (137.83 mph) and the kilometer (138.3 mph) at Daytona on April 22, 1911. At the time, it was the fastest a human had ever traveled.

Please see stumblng.tumblr.com/post/25353354, where I've added a link to a comparative photo.

Thank you both for the information, and yes stumblng.tumblr, this photograph does seem to exhibit the phenomenon of focal plane shutter distortion.

nice!

fabulous photo...reminds me of the fabulous movie "The World's Fastest Indian"!

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Oregon State Downtowns (OSD), and we'd love to have this added to the group! It is amazing, these old photographs that depict such towns. Town history is really interesting to me, and this is neat to see. Thank you for uploading online. Also, trying to get a representation of as many Oregon towns as possible in this group, so would appreciate it if you added this, or any others you would want.

Thanks OSD! Can you send us an invite to add the photo to your group?

You already sent the photo to our group. Thank you.

This is not the town of Blitzen. This is, in fact, the town of Denio on the OR/NV border.

Here's an article on this car and driver (as well as Barney Oldfield) www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-1909-Blitzen-Benz.htm

More Bain/LOC photos of race car driver Bob Burman and his Benz:

Bob Burman. He set speed marks for the mile in 1911 while driving the Blitzen Benz.

Amazing photo.

that is one monster car

"Burman duly lined up at Daytona Beach on April 23, 1911, this long, wide expanse of coastline providing the perfect venue for high-speed trials. Tapping the car’s full potential, he squeezed out an average 225.65 km/h for the mile with flying start and 228.1 km/h over the kilometre with flying start – a new land-speed record which was to remain unbroken until 1919." www.autospeed.com/cms/A_2745/article.html

It's interesting to see that it is driven by a sprocket chain.