Wednesday 2nd June 1999
A 49-year-old grandfather bettered the British land-speed record broken by himself earlier in the day. Colin Fallows, an engineer from Northampton, beat the record at Elvington Airfield near York. He then went on to break his own record, clocking 269 mph – 5 mph faster than his first successful attempt.. This new speed beat by 10 mph the former record set 18 years ago by Richard Noble, the man who broke the world land-speed record in October 1997 with the Thrust SSC car. Mr Fallows broke the record twice in his Vampire dragster, powered by an aero engine he had bought for just £500 19 years ago from the Red Arrows.