Look out America, the Brits are chugging up on your tail at break-neck speeds. And they aren't just blowing smoke up your tailpipe...it looks like they are well on their way to breaking the one of the longest-held speed records, the official landspeed record for a steam-powered vehicle. This record was set way back in 1906 when Fred Marriott reached a top speed of 121.57mph in the Stanley brothers' Rocket.

According to an article in today's UK Telegraph paper, the British Steam Car pictured above (it is the green vehicle without a smiley face bolted to its boiler) successfully completed a series of low speed tests earlier this week and is well on its way to completing higher speed runs in the coming days.

In fact, according to the report, the tests went so well that the Brits have actually increased their target speed from a boiling 150mph up to 170mph. Their plan is to attempt the record-breaking run next year in at Edwards Air Force Base in sunny California.

You can check out the car and their plans by clicking here.

Since I knkow that there are some Steam-Car enthusiasts in the Old Cars Weekly Community, anyone want to give us internal combustion guys their thoughts on whether the Brits have enough steam in their tank to break the record?