A groundbreaking land speed record-chasing car will be crossing the auction block at The Laguna Seca Auction held by Bonhams during Monterey Car Week on August 13.
The Flying Caduceus was the brainchild of Dr. Nathan Ostich, a physician who competed at the Bonneville Speed Week event. Ostich had the idea in 1957 to build a turbine-powered car that didn’t use a driveshaft, but relied solely on jet propulsion. His goal was go reach 500 mph at a time when the land speed record was 394.19 mph.
He gathered a group of fellow hot rodders to bring the idea to fruition over the next three years, bankrolling the build and the purchase of a General Electric J-47-19 Turbojet from a Convair B-36D strategic bomber.
The engine was rated at 6,930 hp and 5,200 pounds of thrust and installed into a needle-nosed, aluminum-skinned tube framed equipped with Chevrolet suspension parts. The pressing issue was finding a wheels and tires that could reach 500 mph on the dry lake bed without blowing apart.
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Ostich convinced Firestone to work with him and the company developed a set of solid 34-inch aluminum wheels with 48-inch tires that were up to the task. An eight-foot parachute and 14-inch Halibrand disk brakes would handle the stopping power.
The Flying Caduceus made its first trip to Utah in 1960. It only managed shakedown runs and had some technical issues, but inspired other racers to follow in its footsteps, even though the FIA’s official rules for the land speed record required wheel-driven cars.
The car ran again in 1962, but exhibited stability problems at high speeds. When it returned for 1963, it had a tail stabilizer and Ostich drove it to 359.7 mph, the same year that Craig Breedlove hit 407.447 mph in his three-wheel Spirit of America jet-powered car. The FIA updated its rules the following year and certified Breedlove as the outright record holder.
That’s the last time the Flying Caduceus would run, but the car was preserved along with its engine and is currently owned by the National Automobile Museum that is selling it at the auction.
Bonhams hasn’t put an estimated sale price on the car, which is being offered without reserve, but one recent auction might add some perspective. Breedlove’s Spirit of America Sonic 1, which broke the 600 mph barrier in 1965, was sold at auction in 2025 for $1,325,000.
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