Celebrity, Nation, and Motor Cultures in Britain: Donald Campbell's Speed Records, 1949-1967

Abstract

This doctoral thesis examines the career of speed record-breaker Donald Campbell to illuminate changing attitudes to celebrity, technology, and nation. Following the tradition established by his record-breaking father Sir Malcolm Campbell, Donald mounted a series of record attempts in a succession of vehicles names Bluebird, setting his first record on Lake Ullswater in 1955, and becoming the only person to hold both the land and water speed records in the same year, 1964. He died on 4 January 1967 attempting to break the 300-mph barrier on Coniston Water. Campbell’s exploits attracted attention not only in Britain but around the world, yet his projects and speed record-breaking have received little scholarly examination. The thesis examines how Campbell funded and promoted his record attempts, his construction as a celebrity and speed record-breaking as a media spectacle, across four chapters, engaging with scholarship on heroic reputations, media and celebrity, sport and motoring, and on national decline. Chapter one charts Campbell’s changing media representation in the media in print and in radio, newsreels, and television. Speed generated a compelling spectacle focused on the ‘Speed King’ Campbell, a British hero. My study of media representations and papers in the BBC Written Archives reveals the vital role Campbell himself played in crafting his image, supporting Sharon Marcus’s recent emphasis on celebrities’ influence over their public profile. The thesis analyses Campbell’s early promotion of an alleged ‘Water Barrier’ at 200-mph, similar to the Sound Barrier, to generate suspense and scientific legitimacy. Campbell projected the image of a modernised gentleman, combining the traditional elements of style and courtesy with the glamourous lifestyle of a playboy, of fast cars, attractive women and exotic foreign travel. The chapter reveals how diminishing success, arguments with sponsors, the absence of fresh spectacle and middle age generated increasingly negative commentary in the 1960s, as Campbell focused more on the vastly more expensive – and difficult – land speed records. Chapters two and three examine the organisation, sponsorship and promotion of Campbell’s records. Chapter two situate Campbell in the burgeoning motor cultures of the period. My research shows how Campbell was treated as an expert on speed in Britain and around the world. Although he only achieved one land speed record, Campbell was always associated with motoring and frequently compared with racing drivers like Stirling Moss. Adverts portrayed a modern gentleman, used to promote a range of motoring products and fashion accessories, who contributed to the rise of what I call ‘conspicuous motoring’. Although he was associated with danger, campaigners used Campbell as an expert on speed to promote road safety. Far from the vanity projects of a wealthy eccentric, chapter three analyses a range of business archives to show how private companies and the state backed Campbell’s projects to promote national prestige, specific products and technological innovation. Drawing on David Edgerton’s model of a ‘Warfare State’, my research shows how the British state provided support through loans and patronage. The final chapter examines responses to Campbell’s death, which was extensively recorded in written reports, photographs, films, and audio. The subsequent media spectacle re-energised interest in Campbell, securing his reputation as a national hero in a tradition of British pioneers, particularly explorers who risked their lives for the honour of the nation and for science. Debate about the causes of the disaster generated more downbeat assessments, emphasising the end of an era and portraying Campbell as an anachronism in the Space Age of the later 1960s, a view secured by an influential ITV documentary The Price of a Record.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Max Jones (Supervisor) & Aashish Velkar (Supervisor)