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Frank Lockhart
Stutz Black Hawk
Born on the 3rd April 1903 in Dayton, Ohio, Lockhart received little formal education, but he allegedly
grew up living next door to the father of the Wright brothers, who introduced Lockhart to engineering
in his garage. His father died when he was young, and his mother moved the entire family to Los Angeles,
the hot-bed of the Californian racing scene.
Lockhart bought himself a Ford Model T to build a racing car, and at the same time learned engineering
at the Miller Products Company. When Miller went to Indianapolis in 1926, Lockhart went with him, and
after shaking down a car and lapping faster than the works drivers, he got a ride in the race. And won it.
In 1927, Lockhart started to think about the Land Speed Record. His Stutz Black Hawk weighed less than
3000 lbs (6608 kg), with two Miller straight 8 engines joined together to create a blown 16 cyclinder
engine. He got several people from the Duesenberg factory to help him build it, and got sponsorship from
Stutz. When Malcolm Campbell saw the car, he said that it was so lightweight that the car may well sail
out of control - and so it did, twice, the second time killing driver Lockhart on the 25th April 1928 on
Daytona Beach.
Malcolm Campbell, Frank Lockhart and Ray Keech.
Unloading the car from the train
The unfortunate remains, torn into aluminium ribbons
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