Inspiration is a British-designed and -built steam-propelled car designed by Glynne Bowsher and developed by the British Steam Car Challenge team.[1][2]
Inspiration holds the World Land Speed Record for a steam-powered vehicle on 25 August 2009, driven by Charles Burnett III with an average speed of 139.8mph (225km/h)[3] over two consecutive runs over a measured mile. This broke the and longest-standing land speed record set in 1906 by Fred Marriott in the Stanley Steamer.[4] On 26 August 2009 the car, driven by Don Wales, broke a second record by achieving an average speed of 148.308mph (239km/h) over two consecutive runs over a measured kilometre.
The runs were made at Edwards Air Force Base in California, United States. The car is 7.6m long, 1.7m wide and weighs 3 tons. It is powered by a two-stage turbine driven by superheated steam from 12 boilers containing distilled water. The boilers are heated by burners which burn Liquid Petroleum Gas to produce 3 Megawatts (10.2 million BTU/hr) of heat. The steam produced is at a temperature of 400°C (750°F) and a pressure of 4000kN/m240bar (580psi). The engine is capable of developing 288kW (386hp; 392PS) and consumes around 40 litres (8.8 Impgal) of water per minute).[5]
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