Athol Graham's Fatal Crash @ Bonneville Salt Flats 1960 (Aftermath)
- 7 months ago
Athol Graham built his "City of Salt Lake" car using parts of old airplanes and an old hydroplane Rolls Royce engine. On December 1959 Graham topped 344.7 mi/h (554.6 km/h) in a four-mile run at Bonneville Salt Flats, which was a remarkable speed for a car that had cost less than $2500.
On the opening day of the Bonneville racing season, Monday morning, 01 August 1960, Athol Graham was back at Bonneville to attempt a new record on the 12-mile strip. Graham's wife and hundreds of spectators had gathered on the famed flats in hope of seeing a local boy beat the record. Graham had rented the course for four days, but on his first run he crashed and rolled several times.
The accident occurred on Graham's first run as the car approached the measured mile portion of the course. An inquest determined that one of the left wheels had come off the car. The record attempt had been delayed by two hours because that same wheel wasn't fitting properly. As the wheel snapped off at the hub, the streamliner was sent into a skid, finally flipping over and over. The driver was pinned in the wreckage of his vehicle which slid to a halt, upside-down, in a spray of salt 4,000 feet from where the wheel snapped away.
Minutes later an ambulance arrived; timing officials, Graham's wife and almost 20 other spectators helped lift Athol Graham's "City of Salt Lake" so that the injured driver could be removed from the wreckage. Graham was still alive when taken from the remains of his red speedster. Sadly, he died shortly after arrival at a Salt Lake City hospital to which he was taken by airplane.
Athol Graham was from Salt Lake City, Utah; he was married with four children. After his death, local newspaper Salt Lake Tribune established the "Athol Graham Fund" with all donations to go to Graham family. Athol's widow Zeldine, 29, decided to rebuild the car and together with Graham's mechanic Otto Anzjon pieced together the City of Salt Lake again. Anzjon was the designed driver for a new record attempt and he actually made a test run on the restored car in 1962. Unfortunately he contracted leukemia and died at the age of 20, before the record attempt.
R.I.P
On the opening day of the Bonneville racing season, Monday morning, 01 August 1960, Athol Graham was back at Bonneville to attempt a new record on the 12-mile strip. Graham's wife and hundreds of spectators had gathered on the famed flats in hope of seeing a local boy beat the record. Graham had rented the course for four days, but on his first run he crashed and rolled several times.
The accident occurred on Graham's first run as the car approached the measured mile portion of the course. An inquest determined that one of the left wheels had come off the car. The record attempt had been delayed by two hours because that same wheel wasn't fitting properly. As the wheel snapped off at the hub, the streamliner was sent into a skid, finally flipping over and over. The driver was pinned in the wreckage of his vehicle which slid to a halt, upside-down, in a spray of salt 4,000 feet from where the wheel snapped away.
Minutes later an ambulance arrived; timing officials, Graham's wife and almost 20 other spectators helped lift Athol Graham's "City of Salt Lake" so that the injured driver could be removed from the wreckage. Graham was still alive when taken from the remains of his red speedster. Sadly, he died shortly after arrival at a Salt Lake City hospital to which he was taken by airplane.
Athol Graham was from Salt Lake City, Utah; he was married with four children. After his death, local newspaper Salt Lake Tribune established the "Athol Graham Fund" with all donations to go to Graham family. Athol's widow Zeldine, 29, decided to rebuild the car and together with Graham's mechanic Otto Anzjon pieced together the City of Salt Lake again. Anzjon was the designed driver for a new record attempt and he actually made a test run on the restored car in 1962. Unfortunately he contracted leukemia and died at the age of 20, before the record attempt.
R.I.P