THERE was more than one Bluebird, a point increasingly forgotten with recent media concentration on Donald Campell's fatal world record attempt in 1967 and the recent raising of the wreck from the Coniston lakebed.
Long before that, another Bluebird, piloted by Donald's father Sir Malcolm Campbell, held the world waterspeed record and now K4 has been given its rightful recognition with the construction of a full-sized and detailed replica.
K4 is to be displayed at Lakeland Motor Museum, Holker Hall, alongside a replica of Donald Campbell's K7.
Piloting the Ventnor-type, Vosper-built and Rolls-Royce powered K4 on Coniston Water on August 19, 1939, Sir Malcolm raised the world record to 141.74 mph, a mark which he still held on his death in 1948.
In 1950 Donald Campbell took K4 to 152mph and in 1951 won the Oltranza Cup race at Lake Garda, in Italy, before the boat, travelling at an estimated 170mph, suffered a structural failure and sank on Coniston Water, where after salvage, it was stripped and burned.
The replica of K4 at Holker Hall is now displayed together with full-sized replicas of Sir Malcolm's Bluebird car which broke the world land speed record in 1935 (301.129mph) and the famous jet hydroplane Bluebird K7, in which Donald Campbell was tragically killed on Coniston Water on January 4, 1967, attempting to break his own World Water Speed Record of 276.33mph.
Don Sidebottom, who founded the Lakeland Motor Museum 26 years ago, said: "Our objective is to keep the Campbell Bluebird heritage alive and we have been extremely fortunate in being able to secure the K4 replica for public display and interpretation, particularly given its Lake District connection and our close proximity to Coniston Water, where Sir Malcolm and Donald achieved so much for Great Britain."
Lakeland Motor Museum at Holker Hall is open daily until December 19.
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