At the moment, there’s no speed record for production-bodied cars powered by fuel cells. Ford may be able to claim a first: cutting-edge green technology in a model that looks just like one you can buy at your Ford dealership—a veritable P.R. bonanza.

New categories have kept other alt-fuel teams in the game. Last year, for example, a privately funded British venture set a new record—more than 300 m.p.h.—for a diesel-powered vehicle. (Diesels use less fuel, and therefore emit less carbon, than comparable gasoline engines.) Striking in appearance, the bright yellow, needle-shaped car was more than 40 feet long, providing the best aerodynamic stability at speed. (“Getting airborne” is the prime cause of injury and death to those attempting land speed records.)

Green speed isn’t new, though. An electric model, in fact, set the very first land speed record. That was back in December 1898, and the speed was all of 39 m.p.h. By 1906, the record was up to 128 m.p.h., achieved this time by a steam car, the last vehicle to hold the record without burning oil-based fuels in an engine. Records changed hands often at the beginning of the century and again in the ’30s and ’60s—but less frequently as it became more challenging to squeeze out more speed and the cost of building a contender soared into the tens of millions of dollars. (By the way, the record for an electric car now stands at 315 m.p.h., set in 2004 by Ohio State University’s “Buckeye Bullet.”)

The British held the land speed record continuously from 1924 to 1963, and their pilots are national heroes: John Cobb, father and son Malcolm and Donald Campbell, and Richard Noble. Britain still generates a disproportionate share of record contenders, including the unlikely “world’s fastest estate car”—that’s British for station wagon. In 2003, an MG wagon that might otherwise have been ferrying young rugby players to their matches went through the traps at a remarkable 225 m.p.h.

Humans have always pushed to accomplish feats never achieved before. Maybe it’s wired into our psyche to ask questions like, Can you really build a car that can be driven at 800 m.p.h.? Is it possible to engineer a vehicle that stays in one piece, keeps its wheels on the ground, and remains controllable beyond the speed of sound?

And so the annual trek to the Flats continues. Like the cars we drive, the event simply adapts to the modern world. Perhaps one day the speediest models will run on batteries, or a fuel cell, rather than burning petroleum. Sure, right now that’s a vision for crazy dreamers—but who do you think comes to Bonneville every year?