0:00:02 > 0:00:04'Memory is the storeroom of the mind.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08'A dusty attic of experience stacked with knowledge.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11'Sometimes useless, sometimes priceless.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'Once in a while, we must lift the shades, dust off the years
0:00:17 > 0:00:20'and, with our souvenirs, seek to recapture the past,
0:00:20 > 0:00:26'for there lies reason for the present and vision for the future.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:35NEWSREEL: 'World speed record holder, Donald Campbell,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39'has announced that he is to attempt raising his own record over 300 miles per hour.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42'The attempt will be made at Coniston in Lancashire, where Mr Campbell,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46'and his father Sir Malcolm, have made several attempts in the past.'
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Donald put on his helmet, climbed into the cockpit,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56pulled the canopy over his head.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00But on this particular morning, he had a strange look on his face
0:01:00 > 0:01:02as he looked up to the pier at me.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12'Well, the travelling quickly, in itself, of course, is nothing.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14'It's the challenge.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'It's like a mountain, it has to be climbed
0:01:17 > 0:01:18'and a song that has to be written.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24'Once mankind ceases to have the desire to do these things
0:01:24 > 0:01:27'and progress, well, he'll stagnate and die very rapidly.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:34You could see it in the distance,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37we could hear the engine roar as it accelerated.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40See the plume of spray.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48MUFFLED SPEECH OVER RADIO
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Then almost in sort of slow motion, you know,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10it slowly began to rise out of the water.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14This is the terrible part about trying to break a record, you see -
0:02:14 > 0:02:18once you start, you're past the point of no return.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20And there's no going back.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26- ECHOES:- Once you start, you're past the point of no return...
0:02:26 > 0:02:27Past the point of no return...
0:02:30 > 0:02:37You see this fantastic boat just become an aeroplane,
0:02:37 > 0:02:42almost as if she's soaring off into the wild blue yonder.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59VOICES EXCLAIM IN HORROR
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Oh! Oh, oh God! He's blown up.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07He's sort of cartwheeling over and over.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10What a terrible disaster.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34The 1920s and '30s was the first great age of speed.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38On land, sea and in the air,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41men could travel at speeds previously undreamt of.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47The daredevils who risked their lives to reach new milestones
0:03:47 > 0:03:48were seen as heroes.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Britain's Malcolm Campbell was one of the greatest heroes of them all.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00In 1935, he faced his toughest challenge.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10NEWSREEL: 'Speed, 300 miles an hour, five miles a minute,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11'one mile in 12 seconds -
0:04:11 > 0:04:15'an achievement which baulks the imagination and beggars description.'
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Breaking the 300 mile an hour barrier at Bonneville
0:04:23 > 0:04:26was Campbell's greatest achievement as a driver.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31It was his ninth land speed record.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38In the 1930s, his speed dreams found a new focus.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42He set four water speed records.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Everything he touched turned to gold.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Watching triumph after seamless triumph
0:04:51 > 0:04:55was Malcolm Campbell's greatest admirer, his son Donald.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08That's no good, Donald, you've got the points all wrong.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12I'm afraid you've broken this, old chap.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18I think the truth was his father was an awful old bully
0:05:18 > 0:05:24and a very arrogant, difficult, probably not very nice man.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26This is all very well, Dad,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28but when are you going to teach me to drive a car?
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Oh, when you get old enough, old boy. You can't run your trains yet.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Donald had a very neglected childhood,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39but always he had this great hero to live up to.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46When you grow up with some great heroic father figure
0:05:46 > 0:05:48who doesn't really take much notice of you,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51things do tend to go a bit wrong, I think,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and I think they went wrong for Donald.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57He was always trying to appease this father figure.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06It's a bit like something out of Hamlet.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08He's haunted by his father's ghost.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28NEWSREEL: 'British Movietone News mourns the death of Sir Malcolm Campbell.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31'Malcolm Campbell was of the race of pioneers.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34'In another age, he might have discovered continents,
0:06:34 > 0:06:35'but in the 20th century,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39'it was speed which attracted his adventurous spirit.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41'Farewell to a great patriot.'
0:06:43 > 0:06:45When his father died,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I think that put steel into Donald's heart and mind.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50He was absolutely determined
0:06:50 > 0:06:53that he was going to do things better than his father,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56or go faster and achieve at least as much or more.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00He had to show the ghost of his father
0:07:00 > 0:07:03that he was as much a man as his father was.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09Donald Campbell had never tried record breaking before, but in 1949,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12in his father's old boat, he took to the water for the first time.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18'A son takes up his father's mantle.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19'Donald, son of Sir Malcolm Campbell,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22'is going to defend the water speed record for Britain.'
0:07:22 > 0:07:26He would always talk about getting the records for Britain,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29it was never talked about just for himself.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30I've heard him say many times,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33"To be born British was to win the first prize in life."
0:07:41 > 0:07:43But Britain in the late 1940s
0:07:43 > 0:07:46was no longer the greatest and fastest nation on Earth.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49The country had been ravaged by war
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and a new supercharged superpower had emerged...
0:07:54 > 0:07:57..the Americans who were after Britain's, and Sir Malcolm's,
0:07:57 > 0:07:58water speed record.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Donald Campbell felt compelled to fight for his father's,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09and his country's, honour.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I believe these records are very definitely symbolic
0:08:13 > 0:08:18of a nation's ability technically and indeed of their virility.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Donald Campbell's right-hand man
0:08:24 > 0:08:27was his father's chief mechanic, Leo Villa.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32But their first joint record attempt ended disastrously.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53In 1950, Sir Malcolm's old boat sank.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00The failure spurred Donald Campbell on.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03He gave up his job, mortgaged his house
0:09:03 > 0:09:06and poured his savings into a brand-new boat.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Bluebird K7, as it was called,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14was designed by a gifted engineer called Ken Norris.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17He thought outside the box.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23There was always something possible that others hadn't thought of.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29What Ken Norris and his brother, Lew, dreamt up was not a boat,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32but something truly innovative - a jet-powered hydroplane.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Water is 600 times more dense than air,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39so if you wanted to travel fast over it,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43you've got to really get as much out of the water as possible,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45so you've got to design a craft
0:09:45 > 0:09:49that's going to ride the water, just skim the top of the water.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Most racing boats were driven by propellers,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57but the blades created drag.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Ken Norris's solution was to fit a jet engine
0:10:01 > 0:10:04which would blast Bluebird along at over 200 miles an hour.
0:10:08 > 0:10:14By 1955, Bluebird K7 was ready for a crack at the world record.
0:10:14 > 0:10:15'If you're going to succeed,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18'you've got to put what you're trying to do first,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22'way before your own comfort, way before your own pleasure
0:10:22 > 0:10:26'and way before your own family considerations.
0:10:26 > 0:10:27'You have got to.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- ECHOES:- 'Put what you're trying to do first... First... First...
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Donald Campbell had inherited his father's obsessive nature.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Everything would be sacrificed in pursuit of record breaking.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51I don't remember when I first met my father.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Isn't that a funny word - "met my father"?
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I don't remember that specific moment.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I can only refer to what I was told,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06that my mother was unfaithful to my father
0:11:06 > 0:11:10and he caught her being unfaithful,
0:11:10 > 0:11:15and he packed his bags and left her there and then.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I don't believe my father probably saw me
0:11:20 > 0:11:21for at least three to four years.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31The enormity of what he did, I didn't grasp for a long time.
0:11:32 > 0:11:39I never quite appreciated the magnitude, the fame,
0:11:39 > 0:11:44the risks, the whole shebang that went with it.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52NEWSREEL: 'Onlookers lining the shores of Lake Ullswater,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56'see 34-year-old Donald Campbell take out his turbojet Bluebird
0:11:56 > 0:11:58'on what is only meant to be a trial run with an old engine.'
0:11:59 > 0:12:06In 1955, I was in hospital - I swallowed a hairgrip.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11And I was recovering when someone came down to me and said,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15"Your father's just broken the world water speed record."
0:12:15 > 0:12:17ENGINE SCREAMS
0:12:23 > 0:12:26'And he's done it with an average speed of 202.32.
0:12:26 > 0:12:27'A magnificent success.'
0:12:28 > 0:12:33So that was the first time I knew anything about water speed records.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37'Congratulations from the family and chief mechanic, Leo Villa.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40'Now the big question - what will Bluebird do
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'when she's flat out with her new engine? We'll be seeing.'
0:12:46 > 0:12:48The first record was a big thing because a lot of us
0:12:48 > 0:12:53had put massive time and effort and thought into the whole thing,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57and we just did not know that it was going to work.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01And when it did, it was a big whoopee moment.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04This was what we could do.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08A small country, just recovering from wartime privations,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11could come up with something that could beat the rest of the world,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13and particularly the Americans.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23In the 1950s, Billy Butlin, the holiday camp entrepreneur,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25offered a big cash prize for each new record.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Year after year, Campbell pushed his speed higher and claimed his reward.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Bluebird K7 notched up record after record.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44The British-built speed machine
0:13:44 > 0:13:47became the most iconic racing boat in the world.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53She starts off sort of a bit like a blue whale, you know,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58lumbering to sort of get up onto the plane,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03and then once she just gets up onto her three pins and goes...
0:14:07 > 0:14:10..well, it's almost like a bullet out of the gun.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22I just think she's got very elegant, feminine sort of shapes.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28Everything's rounded and curvaceous and there's no sharp angles.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31She's so beautifully balanced
0:14:31 > 0:14:35and on water, of course, in her own environment,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38she's just absolutely out of this world.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50By the late 1950s, Donald Campbell was a household name.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53He was just the kind of swashbuckling hero
0:14:53 > 0:14:55that 1950s' Britain admired.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00A young Queen was on the throne,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05people yearned for trailblazers who could shape the new Elizabethan age.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10'At Buckingham Palace Donald Campbell,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12'seen with his mother and Leo Villa, receive the CBE.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16'He hopes to set a new water speed record this year.'
0:15:16 > 0:15:19The late 1950s were Campbell's glory years.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24He was rich, he was famous and, after a second failed marriage,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26he was also single.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33As one of Britain's most eligible bachelors,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36there was no shortage of female admirers.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51My father was a charming, attractive man and, you know,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54I think he was a lady's man.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56He had a twinkle in his eye.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00He was a young, healthy man, for goodness sake,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04so he had a nice selection of lady friends.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08And I suppose, when I first met Tonia,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12I suppose I just thought she was another one of his girlfriends.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17# The autumn leaves
0:16:17 > 0:16:21# Drift by the window
0:16:22 > 0:16:24# The autumn leaves... #
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I sing about love and I know what I'm singing about.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35His eyes, they were blue like the sky in the south of France...
0:16:37 > 0:16:39..and they were very meaningful.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42You can really see what he was thinking.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46The first time we met, I knew exactly what he was thinking.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48# ..Since you went away... #
0:16:50 > 0:16:55I'm very proud that this fantastic man loved me, and he did.
0:16:55 > 0:16:56I feel he still does.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01I'm still his wife.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I never became his widow, I'm still his wife.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09That's the way the cookie crumble.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10# ..Since you went away... #
0:17:12 > 0:17:14It was very fast this romance.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18He proposed to me three days after he met me.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26The wedding day came and I wore bluebirds in my hair.
0:17:26 > 0:17:32He said, "What a sweet, sweet thought,"
0:17:32 > 0:17:35then took my hand and kissed it.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Yeah.
0:17:38 > 0:17:46# ..Autumn leaves start to fa-all. #
0:17:52 > 0:17:56By 1959, Donald Campbell had six world records.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01On water, he had already outshone his father,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04but Sir Malcolm's reputation had been forged on land.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09If Donald Campbell wanted to emulate his father,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12he needed a land speed record too.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18'While bad weather at Coniston
0:18:18 > 0:18:20'has been holding up his record attempt on water,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23'Donald Campbell has been considering world records on land.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25'With Leo Villa and the two designers,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27'he inspects a model of Bluebird 2.'
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Well, I refer to this one as my baby, I was part of its conception.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40I saw it born
0:18:40 > 0:18:45and it was a big part of my life for two-and-a-half, three years.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52It gives me shivers to touch her now, still.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54It is a very, very beautiful being.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03The land speed record stood at 394 miles an hour.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Ken Norris designed a car that would go far beyond that, to 500 or more.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13CN7, as it was called,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17was designed like a plane with an interlocking aluminium fuselage
0:19:17 > 0:19:19which gave the car enormous strength.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26She was powered by a 5,000 horsepower jet turbine engine.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Harnessing this power demanded cutting edge engineering.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34When we were designing the car,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37the regulations were, for the land speed record,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42that you had to drive the power through the wheels.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46You've got to control them in some way and, at the same time,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49you have massive aerodynamic problems because a car can lift
0:19:49 > 0:19:54and flip off and take off just as easily as a boat could.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59At the cost of half a million pounds CN7 was a hugely expensive car,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02but all the big guns of British industry
0:20:02 > 0:20:04lined up to bankroll the project.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09They were keen to associate themselves with the Campbell name
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and bask in the glory of a new land speed record for Britain.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15And things started to look good,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18particularly when the skin started to go on,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and then you began to feel,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25"Yep, this is really going to look as we hoped it would."
0:20:29 > 0:20:33After four years of design and development,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35the 30-foot, 4-tonne speed machine
0:20:35 > 0:20:38was ready for its first public outing.
0:20:40 > 0:20:41ENGINES WHINE
0:20:41 > 0:20:45NEWSREEL: 'That sound could mean a new land speed record for Britain.'
0:20:47 > 0:20:51TONIA: The car's a magnificent animal, of course a female one
0:20:51 > 0:20:55because his cars and his boats, the Bluebirds, were female.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00When it started, it always starts slow
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and then it just goes, you know, goes.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15That tremendous power, it's sensuous, it really is sensuous.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I used to get terribly excited.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26By 1960, the most sophisticated car on Earth
0:21:26 > 0:21:29was ready for a crack at the world land speed record.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32TV: 'Free with Kellogg's delicious Sugar Frosted Flakes,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35'the sugar-toasted cereal for super energy,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37'authentic models of the fastest cars in the world,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41'including the new Proteus-engined Bluebird driven by Donald Campbell.'
0:21:41 > 0:21:44We're hoping that Britain will be the first to carry
0:21:44 > 0:21:48the world's land speed record to beyond 400 miles per hour.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09It's probably one of the most unique places on the planet Earth,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12the Bonneville Salt Flats.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19The fellow that made it famous was Sir Malcolm Campbell.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25He christened this area as the speed capital of the world, so to speak.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30More than 20 years after his father had smashed the 300 mile barrier
0:22:30 > 0:22:31at Bonneville,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Donald Campbell was going to test himself on the same track.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40First time I became aware of Donald Campbell
0:22:40 > 0:22:43was a friend of mine said, "Hey, have you seen the new car
0:22:43 > 0:22:47"that the British are building for the land speed record?"
0:22:47 > 0:22:50The car thing was of real interest to me
0:22:50 > 0:22:54because it involved the entire British automotive industry
0:22:54 > 0:22:56and aerospace industry,
0:22:56 > 0:23:02and it was a huge undertaking, and so that really got my attention.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I was just amazed at the amount of effort
0:23:05 > 0:23:07that was being put into this vehicle
0:23:07 > 0:23:11to set a new world speed record for Great Britain.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27On water, Donald Campbell was the undisputed champion of the world,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29but this was his first attempt on land.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Four American teams were also at Bonneville,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37each of them gunning for the world record too.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Campbell was desperate to beat them to it,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46so on each of Bluebird's trial runs, he pushed the speed higher.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51ENGINES WHINE AND ROAR
0:24:06 > 0:24:09It was dawn and absolutely beautiful...
0:24:10 > 0:24:12..sun just kind of peeping through.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19That moment when the canopy is actually put down over him
0:24:19 > 0:24:23and locked tight, he is then isolated in another world.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30It needs a lot of guts, I think, to cocoon yourself away like that
0:24:30 > 0:24:35and then press the pedal, open the throttle, release the brakes
0:24:35 > 0:24:39and go forward into the unknown.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55He eased the car forward and it really was just like a cartoon car,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59an arrow going down the salt.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08You're travelling faster than a 45 calibre bullet.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14You can hear the tyres screaming against the salt.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21There's the air that comes in the inlet ducts at hurricane force.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31This is a really, really violent, serious piece of machinery
0:25:31 > 0:25:36and, if you don't pay attention, if you don't do your homework,
0:25:36 > 0:25:41it's going to end up biting you, and it'll bite you really hard.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51He just disappears absolutely to the horizon.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57And then suddenly this great cloud of salt came up and I thought,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59"Christ, what the hell's happened?"
0:25:59 > 0:26:03And then the car emerged out of the top of the salt cloud
0:26:03 > 0:26:08and did one turnover and then disappeared into the salt again.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13And then there was this noise, just like a tin trunk falling downstairs.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29I ran, I ran, I ran and I just got there when the highway patrolman
0:26:29 > 0:26:35was lifting him, like a dead body, out of the car.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37And then the ambulance was there,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40but he demanded that I shall sit in the front
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and that Leo should sit with him, because, he told me afterwards,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46he wasn't sure whether he was dying or not,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48and he didn't want me to see that.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54There's a little window from where he was to the driver,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and Leo opened it and he said,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00"Skipper wants me to tell you that the family jewels are OK."
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I suppose I have survived
0:27:04 > 0:27:07the fastest crash that mankind has ever survived.
0:27:10 > 0:27:16Well, she swerved, the offside wheels caught the soft salt
0:27:16 > 0:27:21and the differential of adhesion caused the car to spin,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and spin terribly rapidly.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30The car took off, flew for, I think, 400 yards, bounced four times
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and tore itself apart.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Campbell's crash, at 300 miles an hour, was a very public calamity.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44His reputation as the record breaker extraordinaire
0:27:44 > 0:27:46lay shattered on the Bonneville salt.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50In the eyes of the world, and probably from within his own eyes,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54he had failed, and he had rather spectacularly smashed up
0:27:54 > 0:27:58the most expensive car that had ever been built.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07We met at the Dorchester in London.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12Only time I've ever met him when he was visibly short on confidence.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16He was just very uncertain as to what his future was
0:28:16 > 0:28:18and, indeed, whether he had one.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23He'd smashed his skull, had a very bad accident in the United States,
0:28:23 > 0:28:28and this had obviously shaken him considerably.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31But he had to do more record attempts
0:28:31 > 0:28:33because he didn't have any money
0:28:33 > 0:28:36and it was his only means of making money.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Donald Campbell blamed his crash on a poor quality track.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58A search began, on the far side of the world,
0:28:58 > 0:29:00for a better course for the next record attempt.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18We actually spent about two months in Australia
0:29:18 > 0:29:19just looking for somewhere
0:29:19 > 0:29:23that it was going to be possible to do the record attempt.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27So we're getting a bit desperate, to be honest.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31And we saw this great expanse of dried-out salt lake, Lake Eyre.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42The rebuilt Bluebird was shipped out to Lake Eyre.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Much of the old car had been salvaged
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and a fin had been added to keep her stable at high speeds.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55After his Bonneville crash, the pressure had redoubled.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00What Campbell needed was a swift, successful run.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06But in March 1963, in one of the driest places on Earth,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09the unthinkable happened.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Hadn't experienced rain for years and, you know,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17the British get there and it blooming rains.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23They'd have trials, the salt would break because it had got wet,
0:30:23 > 0:30:24the car would get stuck.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Fraught was the word.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44The final storm that completely washed him out
0:30:44 > 0:30:46was really cataclysmic.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54It started with really tempestuous wind.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59People scurrying everywhere, tying stuff down
0:30:59 > 0:31:01and then suddenly the sky went black.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07It was doom, it really was the end of the world.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13After three frustrating months,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Campbell called off the record attempt.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Bluebird's backers still had nothing to show for their investment.
0:31:25 > 0:31:26I think, back in the UK,
0:31:26 > 0:31:31there was doubt as to whether Donald was going to do it.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34There was certainly a feeling he was fated,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39that he was just unlucky and it wasn't going to happen for him.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46The press tore into Campbell.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49They claimed he'd lost his nerve. Far more worrying
0:31:49 > 0:31:54was the criticism from CN7's most important financial backer,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57the industrialist Sir Alfred Owen.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Well, the sponsoring committee are being bitterly disappointed
0:32:01 > 0:32:05at the slow rate of progress since the car was completed,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09and I think are bound to question Donald Campbell very seriously
0:32:09 > 0:32:12as to why this delay has taken place.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17TV: 'Ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure now to introduce
0:32:17 > 0:32:21'at the moment, this controversial figure, Mr Donald Campbell.'
0:32:24 > 0:32:26With his reputation and his record attempt on the line,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29Campbell was forced to confront his critics.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Well, it's so incomprehensible to us who are engaged on the operation,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42it's easy to say when you judge something from 14,000 miles away,
0:32:42 > 0:32:46sitting in the comfort of a plush office, time was wasted,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48but those in the field know very differently.
0:32:48 > 0:32:54Why do you think Sir Alfred has been attacking you in this manner?
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Well, I don't know, David. Frankly it's incomprehensible to me,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02and, obviously, a matter of deep regret.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Some of Campbell's financial backers pulled out.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16His hopes of setting a land speed record were on a knife edge.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26And then, from the Bonneville salt flats, came another hammer blow.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31NEWSREEL: 'On the morning of August 5th 1963,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33'Breedlove goes after the record.'
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Craig Breedlove had built his jet car himself.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The American made record breaking look easy.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46'Going into the mile, he's really moving.'
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Spirit of America was not technically a car,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53its jet engine did not drive the wheels.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57407 miles an hour was an unofficial world record,
0:33:57 > 0:34:01but what mattered was that Breedlove, not Campbell,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04was now the most famous record breaker on Earth.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10He had a reception for me, after I broke the 400 record,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12at his home in Surrey.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15The motoring press picked me up at my hotel in London
0:34:15 > 0:34:18and drove me out there, and I know they were all anticipating,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22you know, throwing the new record holder in front of Campbell
0:34:22 > 0:34:24and seeing, you know,
0:34:24 > 0:34:29him kind of upset because I had broken the record.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33And, you know, he couldn't have been nicer.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I mean, it almost brings tears to my eyes to think about it.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40He made me feel so comfortable, and so at home, and so welcome.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59By now Campbell was seen as a liability.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02More sponsors pulled out.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06But enough money was scraped together
0:35:06 > 0:35:08for one final attempt on the land speed record.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12I was working on the Sunday Times as a young reporter,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15but it was suggested to me that there might be a story
0:35:15 > 0:35:20about the fact he was going out to get the world record.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23I just thought he was a sort of playboy, to tell you the truth.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28I thought he was a playboy cashing in on his father's reputation
0:35:28 > 0:35:31to have a good time and make a lot of money.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And that was the image I think most people had of poor old Donald then.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38I was very young then and I'm very old now.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Now that I have a chance to think about him,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43I think everyone got him wrong, including me.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50What he really was, behind all this, I think, was a genuine tragic figure.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57What one was watching was a man who really was on trial for his life.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00The rains had come time and again
0:36:00 > 0:36:03and the salt, which should have been solid for his car to race on,
0:36:03 > 0:36:04had turned to mush
0:36:04 > 0:36:08and the salt crystals had become separated from the water,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11so that any car which went across it at any speed
0:36:11 > 0:36:14would have the tyres ripped off.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18I mean, he really was scared stiff, to be quite honest about it.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21But he could not go away from that place without the record.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48NEWSREEL: 'All clear from Leo Villa
0:36:48 > 0:36:51'and it's time for one more assault on that elusive record.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58'A cough, a whine, an eerie scream shatters the tomblike stillness.'
0:36:58 > 0:37:02- RADIO:- 'Bluebird to control. Check recorders running. Brakes at 8,000.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05'Rolling up. Increasing 100 percent power.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10'Compress up, 12,000, acceleration .65, speed 150.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11'Three miles to go.'
0:37:15 > 0:37:17To set a land speed record,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Campbell would need to drive the course twice.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Timers would take the average across both of the runs.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31They did the first run which got him the record on that one journey.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37I think they had something like 17 layers of paper thin rubber and nylon
0:37:37 > 0:37:39on these whacking great tyres,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and I think they were down to the last five layers.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45And if that layer had got punctured,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48the whole thing would have blown up and he'd have been killed.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52And that was the point at which he says he looked in the windscreen
0:37:52 > 0:37:56and there was the image of his old father.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00And he had a half smile on his face and he looked down...
0:38:03 > 0:38:06..he said, "Don't worry, old boy, it'll be all right."
0:38:06 > 0:38:10- ECHOING:- "Don't worry old boy, it'll be all right."
0:38:10 > 0:38:13"Don't worry, old boy, it'll be all right."
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Donald turned the car around.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43NEWSREEL: 'The necessary two runs have been made.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45'The tyres are in ribbons.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49'Now they must wait, for this is the end.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52'The clock will give its answer.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'Success! A new world record!
0:38:59 > 0:39:05'420.1 miles per hour, the fastest ever achieved on four wheels.'
0:39:07 > 0:39:11After seven years of blood, sweat and tears,
0:39:11 > 0:39:17Bluebird had finally broken the 400 mile barrier.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Campbell was officially the fastest man on Earth.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23But for one of his closest associates,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25the euphoria was short lived.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31It turned a bit sour for me quite quickly
0:39:31 > 0:39:38because Donald said that I'd made a fortune out of him,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40which wasn't actually true,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and he refused to pay me the balance of the money.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47So I said, "Well, in that case, you can do the water record on your own,
0:39:47 > 0:39:50"and I'm going back to England and I'll put it in the hands of lawyers."
0:39:56 > 0:39:57To Campbell's critics,
0:39:57 > 0:40:02403 miles an hour was, to say the least, a qualified success.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06It was slower than Breedlove's unofficial record
0:40:06 > 0:40:11and way short of the 500 for which CN7 had been originally designed.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20But Campbell had another ace to play.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24That old stalwart, K7, had been shipped out to Australia.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29No-one had ever broken land and water speed records
0:40:29 > 0:40:31in the same year.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36On the last day of 1964, he went for an historic double.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03It was Campbell's greatest triumph.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Finally, he had proved himself the old man's equal
0:41:08 > 0:41:11and written his name in the history books.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16And then he got the water record.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22And despite everything, I knew just what that meant to him.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26That was the one thing his father had never done.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30And although we'd had this fight over money, I was still very fond of him.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37So I decided that I would send him a telegram of congratulations.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41So I spent hours writing it overnight,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and was finally quite pleased with the result.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49"Congratulations on getting the water record, Donald.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52"You're now not only the biggest but the fastest bastard on Earth."
0:41:57 > 0:42:00When we did parades through Adelaide or Sydney,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03it was quite extraordinary the response to him.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06In London, it really wasn't,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10he really did seem a man more and more out of his time.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12SCREAMING
0:42:16 > 0:42:18You must remember this was the mid-'60s
0:42:18 > 0:42:24and, by that time, the whole '60s social revolution was in full swing
0:42:24 > 0:42:29and the one thing one really couldn't be in the '60s and be successful was to be square.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33'We're all playing for a team, old boy,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36'and we're all playing for the same team, as it so happens,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38'and we're now at the moment when our national fortunes
0:42:38 > 0:42:41'are at a fairly low ebb, but I believe deeply and profoundly
0:42:41 > 0:42:46'that anything and whatever we're doing, we must redouble our efforts.'
0:42:46 > 0:42:47As he said to me the first time,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50"Well, old boy, I'm a king and country man." And I thought,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53"God, king and country? What the hell are you on about?"
0:42:58 > 0:43:01With the public appetite for record breaking on the wane,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04many felt it was time for Campbell to retire.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08But racing was the only life he had ever known.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14You break your record and everyone just says, slap on the back,
0:43:14 > 0:43:18well done, fantastic, here you are, you're a world record breaker.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22The next day you wake up and think, "What am I going to do today?"
0:43:22 > 0:43:25So you end up on this treadmill
0:43:25 > 0:43:28of going from record to record, to record, to record.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33At what point where, you know, there's a beginning...
0:43:35 > 0:43:36..where is that end?
0:43:41 > 0:43:43In November 1965,
0:43:43 > 0:43:48Craig Breedlove raised the land speed record to 600 miles an hour.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53What Campbell needed in his transatlantic duel
0:43:53 > 0:43:56was a groundbreaking new vehicle,
0:43:56 > 0:43:59a rocket car which would smash the sound barrier
0:43:59 > 0:44:02and seize back the land speed record for the British.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Ken Norris had come up with this design.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09The calculations that were done
0:44:09 > 0:44:13showed that it would be capable of at least 850 miles an hour.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18A mock-up was built for the press to see
0:44:18 > 0:44:22but, no, there was really no interest from industry
0:44:22 > 0:44:26and so Donald knew he'd got to do something more
0:44:26 > 0:44:29to get some backing from somewhere.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45I saw him back at his house in England.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48He said, "I've still got the old boat. Thank God I've got it,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51"I can have another go and keep the show on the road
0:44:51 > 0:44:53"by going for the world water speed record."
0:44:53 > 0:44:54And we went and saw the old boat,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and it didn't look particularly impressive I must say.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59It was in the garage
0:44:59 > 0:45:02and he was going to have to refurbish it and all the rest of it.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04I said, "Well, what are you going to do?" He said,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07"Well, I think it'll probably kill me, but I've got to do it."
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Campbell's sponsors had deserted him, he was broke
0:45:21 > 0:45:26but, if he could smash the 300 mile an hour barrier on water,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29he might get the money he needed to build his rocket car.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34'World speed record holder, Donald Campbell, has announced
0:45:34 > 0:45:38'that he is to attempt raising his own record over 300 miles per hour.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40'The attempt will be made at Coniston...'
0:45:48 > 0:45:50When we came back, '67,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53the operation was being done on a shoestring.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55We all knew that money was tight,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59but once you were committed to doing it, there was really no way out.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04The first thing that sort of really went wrong
0:46:04 > 0:46:07was that they were doing static tests,
0:46:07 > 0:46:09which they always did with the engine.
0:46:14 > 0:46:20And it sucked bits of plastic and rivets through the turbine,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23which damaged a lot of the blades,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25so that engine was actually wrecked.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32'The heartbreak of this project was that you are not only
0:46:32 > 0:46:35'fighting the unknown, with the technicalities involved,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37'but you are being continually frustrated
0:46:37 > 0:46:39'by this appalling weather.'
0:46:41 > 0:46:43The weather was abysmal at times.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It would be days on end
0:46:46 > 0:46:49when there was just white horses riding down the lake.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54As weeks of delay turned into months,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56the press rounded on Campbell.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58He was out of touch,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01no-one was interested in his record breaking any more.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06This isn't done for public appeal, or as a public entertainment.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08If I was putting on a theatrical play
0:47:08 > 0:47:11and nobody wanted to run up and watch it, I should be very worried.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14- This isn't put on as a public entertainment.- Why is it put on?
0:47:14 > 0:47:17It's put on to try and reach a certain goal which is to see
0:47:17 > 0:47:21a British boat eventually first past the magic 300 mark.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24And we don't intend to stop or spare any effort to get it.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27What others like to think about it is their business.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32TONIA: The last record attempt,
0:47:32 > 0:47:34that was difficult because I was against it
0:47:34 > 0:47:39and I had a premonition which I only knew...
0:47:42 > 0:47:43And I told him so.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47I said, "I know you want to do this and I'm dead against it.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50"I don't feel right about it."
0:47:54 > 0:47:59See, when he's actually doing the run, it's so exciting
0:47:59 > 0:48:01that you forget all the danger.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04But when he's not doing the run and you're sitting around,
0:48:04 > 0:48:06the danger's all you think about.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08Every one I was at, I wanted to be the last,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13but I don't think it will be ever the last.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21In January 1967, the weather finally cleared.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24A record attempt was imminent.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27PHONE RINGS
0:48:33 > 0:48:38On the morning of the 3rd when he called me,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42he actually told me he couldn't wait to get out of that dump.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47And I told him then that he mustn't be impatient.
0:48:47 > 0:48:53He always told me that impatience in a record attempt is poison.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57And he said, "Oh, don't worry, I'm going to be careful for both of us."
0:48:58 > 0:49:01But he was not in a good mood.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05We always had this thing, "You hang up now."
0:49:05 > 0:49:09"No, you hang up now." I said, "You hang up now, darling."
0:49:09 > 0:49:12And he didn't answer, but he sort of said,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14"Look after yourself, won't you?"
0:49:14 > 0:49:16And I said, "Yeah."
0:49:16 > 0:49:19And afterwards, I thought, "Why did he say that?"
0:49:24 > 0:49:26That was the last time we spoke.
0:49:43 > 0:49:49It was a lovely frosty morning and we were out on the lake quite early.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Donald came on the radio to Leo, and Leo said, "Yes, it's fine,"
0:49:56 > 0:50:00you know, "The water's fine, you ready to go?"
0:50:00 > 0:50:02And he cast off from the pier.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06And you could see the boat coming out into the centre of the lake.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12And as it actually went past us, you knew it was going very fast.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16It was almost going like a camera, shot, shot, shot,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19as you were trying to sort of catch up with it all the time.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27And then the timekeepers came on with a sort of coded message,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30which I think was plus 47,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34which was 297 miles an hour, which was very close to 300.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37So, no doubt, there was a temptation
0:50:37 > 0:50:42to try and push it a little bit further on the way back.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48And then he made his, you know, started his return run.
0:50:52 > 0:50:58I never feared for my father's life, because he always came home.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01You didn't talk about the risk. It was the reward,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04it was the result that counted, not the risk.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11ENGINE WHINES AND ROARS
0:51:13 > 0:51:17Bluebird K7 was more than 12 years old.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20She had been designed to break the 200 barrier.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23But fitted with a far more powerful engine,
0:51:23 > 0:51:25she was travelling at over 300 miles an hour.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Aerodynamically, Bluebird was venturing into the unknown.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53RADIO: 'To base, to base, complete accident I'm afraid, over.'
0:51:55 > 0:51:58It must have made an awful bang when it went back into the water,
0:51:58 > 0:52:03but I actually have no recollection of any sound, even to this day,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06but I was sort of stood there, quite honestly,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08you know, mouth open, gaping at this thing.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11And I remember Leo Villa giving me a crack on the shoulder and saying,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15"Come on, Robbie, for God's sake, let's get going and get him out."
0:52:17 > 0:52:19'Christ, that's his lifejacket.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22'Have they got him?
0:52:22 > 0:52:23'Have you got him, Leo?!'
0:52:25 > 0:52:28And then we saw his Mae West and, of course,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30we thought, initially, that that was him
0:52:30 > 0:52:35because we thought, you know, that obviously he would be inside it.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38And, as it turned out, he wasn't, you know, it had been ripped off.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43So I stayed around here from, what,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47half past eight when the accident happened until nearly midday...
0:52:48 > 0:52:51..and it really was quite eerie.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04I was working in a hotel in a ski resort, ironing away one morning,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08and I was called by the reception to a telephone call.
0:53:10 > 0:53:11As I'm walking up, I...
0:53:12 > 0:53:18It's very odd. I knew something was certainly not normal.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24I think my mind just closed down.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33I just remember thinking nothing, you know, just total blank.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38Extraordinary.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50I do love the beauty of it in all its seasons,
0:53:50 > 0:53:56but I did have problems coming here, of just feeling physically sick.
0:53:56 > 0:54:02I wouldn't go on the water, be like walking over my father's grave.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05But it's better now.
0:54:09 > 0:54:16'97-'98, Bill Smith from Newcastle rang me out of the blue
0:54:16 > 0:54:19and just said that he was an amateur diver
0:54:19 > 0:54:22and he was coming to Coniston
0:54:22 > 0:54:26and it was his desire and ambition to find my dad's boat.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42It was two years, three years later,
0:54:42 > 0:54:47he rang me again excitedly screaming down the phone that he'd found it,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49he'd found it, he'd found it.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55I said, "If you bring the boat up, which you're going to have to do,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58"you'll have to find my dad and bring my dad up as well."
0:55:07 > 0:55:08So Bill brought him up
0:55:08 > 0:55:13and we were finally able to lay my father to rest in a proper grave.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Doesn't change the fact, but...
0:55:20 > 0:55:24..he's there and go and see him, put some flowers on the grave,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27say, "Hi, Dad, how's it going, Skipper?" You know.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34Where there's life, there's death. Sad facts.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45I'd never smoked a cigarette in my life,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47not even when I was at school,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51and when I was with Donald, after dinner, we'd have a few drinks
0:55:51 > 0:55:55and it then became a thing with him, because he liked a cigar.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58And he'd say, "David, you've got to have a cigar."
0:55:58 > 0:56:01And in the end, after about four or five days,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04it was certainly going to be easier to smoke a cigar
0:56:04 > 0:56:07than go on fighting with him over it.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10So I smoked a cigar and I didn't like it at all,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12but by the time I'd smoked four,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15I'd changed my mind and I've smoked cigars ever since.
0:56:16 > 0:56:21Often when I light a cigar, I will think back to that time.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26And the memories of him are very real and very precious.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37His father had a much easier job,
0:56:37 > 0:56:42driving his simpler cars at lower speeds
0:56:42 > 0:56:47and becoming a great national hero and getting his knighthood.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Donald tried the same thing on much more difficult cars,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55going at much faster speeds in a very different world,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58but he wasn't taken seriously in the way his father was.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02And I think, though,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05that when you go beneath the surface of what was going on,
0:57:05 > 0:57:07you realise that this really was a man
0:57:07 > 0:57:11who was a much greater man than his father, a much more heroic man,
0:57:11 > 0:57:16a much nicer man, and a genuine hero.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Probably, also, I haven't grown up and, if that's so,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23well, I'm quite prepared to accept it and I'm in no hurry.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25There's too much time to grow up and grow old.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32I think Donald is the sort of hero we really need today,
0:57:32 > 0:57:37someone who is not phoney but, on the other hand, is not a pompous git.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43He wasn't a pompous git, he was a good guy,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45and he was very honourable.
0:57:55 > 0:58:01"And so, today, as we finally lay to rest the Skipper
0:58:01 > 0:58:07"beside the lake and in the shadow of our mountains,
0:58:07 > 0:58:11"I believe that he will have found that other bluebird,
0:58:11 > 0:58:15"that bluebird of eternal happiness
0:58:15 > 0:58:21"that inspired two generations of racing legends.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25"No man deserves it more."
0:58:45 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd