Fund-raising efforts for the next record run have been foiled again and again. In desperation, Breedlove had to toss $2 million of his own money toward the project, maxing out his American Express card to pay crew salaries in 1996 and 1997.
Meanwhile, team member Cherie Danson has been trying to massage sponsorship deals out of at least four companies for about three years now. None of them wants to be the first to throw down a check, and none of them can give the Spirit of America the full $1.5 million it needs.
Chief mechanic Dave Schmidt stands next to the unfinished Spirit of America.
Paul Trapani
The car's F-4 Phantom jet engine has more horsepower than the entire field of the Indianapolis 500 but, so far, nowhere to run.
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Breedlove, too, has shined his funding pitch to a gleam.
"We'll provide a good return on their investment to our sponsors," he says. "The image we're trying to project is speed and technology. There has to be a company that feels the identity of their company is this achievement of establishing an unlimited speed record. Like for a small computer company trying to build name recognition. We could put "XYZ Company' on the side of the car, and people would say, "Oh! What's that?' They would see it on the car at an event, and it could make an indelible impression. They could really get a lot of visibility and exposure."
But so far, no such company has come forward, though Breedlove is buoyed by a promise from a computer printer company to pay up to half of the $1.5 million if the team can find the rest elsewhere.
Without funding, Breedlove spends his quiet days talking up his project, searching for potential sponsors, running errands, and planning vacations to places like Mexico. But the longer he waits, the more impatient he becomes, and the more jaded he grows toward American industry's lack of vision.
He is so certain of success that he can't understand why there are people who don't believe he can do it. After all, he has conclusive computer data and a string of common-sense arguments that absolutely prove he can go 800 mph if given the chance.
He simply cannot think of any more ways to explain a fact, and he can't understand why more companies don't want to step up to help out such a quintessentially American endeavor. He can only think that times have changed.
"Kennedy -- that was a very profound time," Breedlove says. "We were already into this project when [the inauguration speech] occurred, and it gave special importance to the mission. It was that magical time when all things seemed possible. In a way, a lot of that has changed. Now
there is more emphasis placed on the bottom line. You can't do something just because it's a great thing to do. It has to make a bunch of money. Maybe that's why they [corporations and industry] don't care about the Spirit of America."
Breedlove pauses, as if he is about to admit a terrible secret.
"There must be a belief among investors that this project will not pay off. They have to believe we can't do it. They're wrong."
