In 1927, 200 mph sounded almost absurd. The Ford Model T was still in production, paved highways were uncommon, and most automobiles could not come remotely close to triple-digit speeds. Yet on March 29 of that year, British racing driver Henry Segrave climbed into a 20-foot-long machine powered by two enormous aircraft engines and aimed it down the hard-packed sands of Daytona Beach. When the timed runs were over, Segrave had averaged 203.79 mph and become the first person in history to officially break 200 mph in a car.
The machine was the Sunbeam 1000 HP, a brutally simple-looking land-speed car nicknamed “The Slug.” Its name was slightly optimistic, because the twin 22.4-liter Sunbeam Matabele V12 engines actually produced closer to 900 horsepower, but that was still enough to make it one of the most powerful automobiles on Earth. The engines drove the rear wheels through chains, and nearly everything about the car was built around one goal: going faster than any human had gone in a car before.
Segrave was already one of the era’s great speed hunters. He had previously set a land speed record at more than 150 mph, only to watch rivals Malcolm Campbell and J.G. Parry-Thomas raise the mark even higher. By early 1927, Campbell had reached 174.88 mph. Rather than creep toward 200, Sunbeam decided to attack the barrier outright. Segrave’s successful run did more than set another record. It changed the scale of what people believed an automobile could do.
Daytona Beach Became the World’s Fastest Road
Before purpose-built salt-flat courses became synonymous with land speed racing, drivers regularly used beaches. Daytona was especially well suited to the job because its long, hard-packed stretch of sand offered miles of relatively straight running room. It was there that Segrave lined up the Sunbeam for the record attempt on March 29, 1927.
A land speed record was not established by simply glancing at a speedometer during one fast pass. Records were measured over a defined distance and required officially timed runs. Segrave’s performance produced an official flying-mile figure of 203.79 mph, while his measured kilometer speed was just under 203 mph. The number that mattered most was clear: the automobile had officially crossed 200 mph for the first time.
The achievement was startling in context. Ford was still selling the Model T in 1927, most American highways were nothing like the controlled-access interstates that would arrive decades later, and the typical family automobile struggled to reach even a fraction of Segrave’s speed. Yet on a Florida beach, two aircraft engines, a massive hand-built chassis and an extraordinarily brave driver had pushed a wheeled vehicle past 200 mph.
Segrave Wasn’t Finished With Speed
The record did not survive for long. Malcolm Campbell raised it to 206.95 mph in 1928, and American driver Ray Keech soon reached 207.55 mph in the triple-engined White Triplex. Segrave responded by returning to Daytona in 1929 with an entirely new machine, the spectacular Golden Arrow. Powered by a Napier Lion aircraft engine and wrapped in a much more sophisticated streamlined body, it pushed the record all the way to 231.45 mph.
Segrave’s obsession with speed extended beyond automobiles. He also pursued water speed records and became the first person to hold world land and water speed records at the same time. His career ended tragically in 1930 after a crash during a water-speed attempt on England’s Lake Windermere. He died from his injuries at just 33 years old, leaving behind one of the most extraordinary records of achievement from motorsport’s early years.
Nearly a century after Segrave’s breakthrough, the Sunbeam 1000 HP itself is receiving another moment in the spotlight. Following a three-year restoration by Britain’s National Motor Museum, the car made its post-restoration public debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 2026, where its twin 22.4-liter V12 engines were fired up before spectators. The museum plans to return it to Daytona Beach in March 2027 for the 100th anniversary of Segrave’s record-setting run. So when the question is asked, “Who was the first person to go 200 mph in a car?” the answer is not Buddy Baker, a NASCAR driver, or the driver of a modern supercar. It was Henry Segrave, in 1927, driving a twin-engined British monster down the sands of Daytona Beach at 203.79 mph.
