Sir Malcolm Campbell in his racing days

Bluebird has since become synonymous with speed records, but the latest line of electric cars has proved to have a twist in the tale.

In 2000, Mr Wales, 40, smashed the British land-speed record for an electrically-powered car at Pendine, achieving 137mph in Bluebird Electric, beating his old record of 116 mph.

Preparatory work on a new Bluebird - the E3 - is under way and the record team is focusing its efforts on breaking the world record, possibly later this year, in the United States.

The limits of Pendine - wind, soft sand, fog and tides - means the project will be heading west to the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.

As my uncle once said, record breaking is not easy, otherwise everyone would be doing it

Don Wales, Bluebird record holder

But a lot of fundraising, building and testing of the new car needs to be done beforehand.

"I am not going to drive a car that can do more than 200mph that has not been properly tested," Mr Wales explained.

"That would be unfair on myself and my family.

"We have to test this car very thoroughly.

"Optimistically, we would like to go to America this year because the longer we leave it, the higher the speed record will go.

"Realistically, we may well have to go out next year.

"If someone came on board with a pot of gold now, then we would pull all the stops out."

Don Wales with Bluebird at Pendine

But behind the glamorous image of record breaking is the hard work of grinding out small steps forward in often difficult circumstances.

"Setting records in fog is not much fun," said Mr Wales, who works by day as a commercial photographer.

"We have had more heartache than success and failure is part and parcel of record breaking.

"You have to be thick-skinned otherwise you would not go on."

Radical thinking

He explained that the project team - which began 10 years ago with modest aims and a modest budget - had proved its "tenacity" through some severe difficulties.

"As my uncle once said, record breaking is not easy, otherwise everyone would be doing it," said Mr Wales.

The whole sense of the project is there is a goal that everyone can benefit from

Don Wales, Bluebird project

"Now I am looking forward to the next generation of the car. Paul has done an excellent job with his design; it is a purposeful looking vehicle.

"The shark fin shows radical thinking and Bluebird should be at the cutting edge of design thinking."

At the core of the whole project is the technology of engine and body materials that could be eventually be used by more environmentally-friendly vehicles.

The latest Bluebird will be driven by four rechargeable batteries located over each wheel, doubling the power employed in the mark two in 2000.

"The whole sense of the project is there is a goal that everyone can benefit from," said Mr Wales.

"I live within the M25 and the pollution - especially in the summer - is appalling.

"From that point of view, I am very keen to show the British public that electric vehicles are a viable alternative."