In 1907, Bill Rishel and his business partners were the first to drive a Pierce-Arrow automobile across Utah’s vast Bonneville Salt Flats. Seven years later, Teddy Tetzlaff set a land speed record on the flats, pushing a custom Blitzen-Benz to 141.73 miles per hour.

After Utah local Ab Jenkins set a new endurance record by driving a Pierce-Arrow in a continuous 10-mile loop for 24 hours at an average speed of 112.9 miles per hour, the flats became the go-to spot for speed freaks looking to smash records.

Drivers descended on the flats from around the world, bringing with them custom-designed vehicles with precisely streamlined bodies and extraordinarily powerful engines.

Various classes of competing vehicles emerged, including streamliners, roadsters, and by the early ‘60s, jet-powered cars.

By the time of these speed trials in August 1966, jet cars were reaching land speeds of over 600 miles per hour.