Athol Graham (1924-1960) was a Salt Lake City mechanic who attempted to break the land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Graham built his own car, the City of Salt Lake, using an airplane engine and cockpit. Although Graham neared Sir John Cobb's 394.2 mph record (set in 1947) in December 1959 with a run of 344.7, his final attempt in Summer 1960 ended in the first fatal crash at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The first land speed record was set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff. The slick surface of the flats, created by the presence liquefied salt, facilitates greater speeds, however, it does not offer much traction, creating a substantial danger to the drivers. Due to recent mining of the salt on these flats, they have begun to disappear.
Graham, a native of Salt Lake City, quit his job as a mechanic in 1955 and opened his own garage (Canyon Motors) on 3300 South to spend more time pursuing his dream of hurtling down the Bonneville Salt Flats at more than 400 mph. Graham spent $2,000 on his homemade speed machine in an era when Mickey Thompson of California, the American land speed record holder, spent $190,000 on his record holding automobile. In December 1959, Graham hurtled out of nowhere in the City of Salt Lake to nearly upset Thompson's record. Graham was also a veteran of World War II, having served in England and France as a mechanic. Following the war, Graham went overseas to New Zealand as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1947 to 1949. Graham married his wife, Zeldine, on August 2, 1950. He passed away one day prior to their tenth wedding anniversary. At the time of his death, Athol and Zeldine Graham had four children.
Athol Graham's second youngest child, Daryl "Butch" Graham, was three years old when his father died. In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Athol Graham's attempt on the land speed record and subsequent death, Butch rebuilt the car that took his father to his death, the scarlet City of Salt Lake.
This collection is fully digitized.
Audio-visual materials can be fragile and require specialized equipment to play back. For this reason, access to audio-visual materials is provided through digital copies, and it might take longer to provide access to items that are not yet digitized. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.
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Permission to publish material from the Athol Graham video collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Multimedia Archivist.
Donated by Butch Graham in 2010.
Processed by Molly Steed in 2010.
See also the
Low resolution transfer of 8mm footage of Athol Graham's work with his car, the City of Salt Lake. The video includes shots of early runs, when the car was silver, and the fatal 1960 run in the City of Salt Lake at Bonneville Speedway, when the car was red. This video includes the Graham and his team's preparation for the record attempt and the beginning of Graham's final run. Although there is no footage of the crash itself, this film includes shots of the mangled car and the unconscious Graham being transferred into an ambulance in the aftermath of the disaster. All of this material is shown twice from different angles.
Footage of the 1962 land speed record attempt and subsequent crash of the Graham Special, a car belonging to Athol's widow, Zeldine Graham. Driver Harry Muhlbach of Salt Lake City was not hurt.
Men work on a car at home. This video includes shots of one man working on the car's engine and of a whole team of people working on the car in a workshop. There are also shots of the assembled car in the mechanic's home driveway and of the interior of the house.
Footage of cars and drivers at Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
More footage of Speed Week, including Mickey Thompson and his Challenger I.
Professional documentary set at Speed Week 1987 and hosted by Australian television personality Brett Clements. The program includes interviews with various attendants and lots of shots of cars racing in the Bonneville Speedway time trials. Interviews include National Hot Rod Association Chairman Wally Parks, who first got permission to run hot rods on the Salt Flats in 1949, and multiple speed record holder Al Teague, who was an active and revered participant at the time.
More footage of Speed Week, including Mickey Thompson and his Challenger I.
Sports report on Doc and Wendy Jefferies.
Home movies with footage of Graham's missionary activities.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Home movie footage of Graham's mission to New Zealand.
Shots of Salt Lake City, including the State Capitol and Memory Grove and of people gathered at mountain lodges.
Various cars at Bonneville Salt Flats, probably Speed Week.
Various cars at Salt Flats, probably Speed Week.