Cobb, John (Rhodes) (1899-1952)

British racing driver. He broke the world land-speed record in 1938, 1939, and 1947, setting a personal best time of 634.37 km/h (394.19 mph). He attempted to break the world water-speed record on Loch Ness in Scotland in 1952. On his first run he became the first person to break the 200 mph barrier on water, averaging 332.95 km/h (206.89 mph) for a mile, but shortly afterwards he was killed when his jet-powered boat crashed.

Cobb began racing in 1925 and soon established himself as one of the stars of the Brooklands circuit, repeatedly setting new lap records. After breaking every world record between one hour and 24 hours he turned his attention towards breaking the world land-speed record. In 1938, at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, he set a new mark of 563.58 km/h (350.20 mph) in his Napier-Railton Mobil Special. The previous record holder, fellow British driver George Eyston, then regained the record with a speed of 575.330 km/h (357.493 mph), but in 1939, Cobb set a speed of 595.02 km/h (369.74 mph). In 1947, when he raised the record once more, he managed to reach a speed of over 400 mph in one direction.