Frank Lockhart

Stutz Black Hawk

Born on the 3rd April 1903 in Dayton, Ohio, Lockhart received little formal education, but he allegedly grew up living next door to the father of the Wright brothers, who introduced Lockhart to engineering in his garage. His father died when he was young, and his mother moved the entire family to Los Angeles, the hot-bed of the Californian racing scene.

Lockhart bought himself a Ford Model T to build a racing car, and at the same time learned engineering at the Miller Products Company. When Miller went to Indianapolis in 1926, Lockhart went with him, and after shaking down a car and lapping faster than the works drivers, he got a ride in the race. And won it.

In 1927, Lockhart started to think about the Land Speed Record. His Stutz Black Hawk weighed less than 3000 lbs (6608 kg), with two Miller straight 8 engines joined together to create a blown 16 cyclinder engine. He got several people from the Duesenberg factory to help him build it, and got sponsorship from Stutz. When Malcolm Campbell saw the car, he said that it was so lightweight that the car may well sail out of control - and so it did, twice, the second time killing driver Lockhart on the 25th April 1928 on Daytona Beach.

Malcolm Campbell, Frank Lockhart and Ray Keech.

Unloading the car from the train

The unfortunate remains, torn into aluminium ribbons