Legends: Craig Breedlove

He has travelled nearly 10 mph for every one of his 71 years spent on the surface of this earth, or rather, blasting across it. That’s a 675 mph top speed back in 1997 with Craig Breedlove strapped to the front of a jet engine from a fighter plane . . . rolling on the ground. The “Spirit of America” doesn’t exactly pass for a car, but when you’re used to being the fastest human alive — on the ground — practicality and rules are out the window. The land-speed record is actually slightly more than the speed of sound, nearly 100 mph faster than Breedlove’s 675 mph run. And that’s exactly what has kept this Southern California native in the hunt all these years — competition — and the fact that there are “so few limits to the rules,” as he tells Legends. His first jet-powered land-speed record of 407 mph came 43 years ago in 1963. Breedlove has held the record numerous times since (even breaching the 600-mph mark in 1965), trading punches with fellow land-speed racers along the way. Ramping up another attempt, which would have to catapult past the 770-mph mark to even bother, has been time-consuming and expensive . . . or it would have already happened. Remember, there’s no prize money and little funding, just the desire to hold the record, if only for a fleeting moment. “It’s strictly an amateur endeavor.” Money and labor are donated with Breedlove investing the most of both. Will the “Spirit” fly again? “The important thing is to get the opportunity to break the record with this car.” However, Breedlove sold the “Spirit” in 2006, bringing an end his quest to be the fastest man on earth.