ARFONS, ART

born Feb. 3, 1926, Akron, Ohio, U.S. byname of Arthur Eugene Arfons American automotive racer, three-time holder of the world's land-speed record for wheeled vehicles. Arfons worked in his father's feed-mill business in Akron, Ohio, before and after service in the U.S. Navy (194346), which trained him in diesel mechanics. He began his career as a drag racer in the early 1950s with his brother Walter, with whom he built a series of racing cars, each called the Green Monster; and by 1959 he was involved in car racing full time. In the early 1960s he designed the ultimate Green Monster, powered by a J-79 jet aircraft engine, which he drove at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. He reached speeds of 434.02 miles per hour (698.34 km/h), Oct. 5, 1964; 536.71 mile/h (863.56 km/h), Oct. 27, 1964; and 576.533 mile/h (927.64 km/h), Nov. 7, 1965. The last of these records was broken eight days later by Craig Breedlove's attainment of a speed of 600.601 mile/h (966.37 km/h). Arfons also designed speedboats, using the name Green Monster Cyclops.