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Brits Hopes to Break Land-Speed Record With 1,000MPH Super Car

by Andrew McKinnon on October 23, 2008 at 07:15 PM



Speed-record legend Richard Noble and driver Andy Green of the England-based Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) project want to break the current world land-speed record of 994 miles per hour, with a goal of reaching a speed target of 1,050 miles per hour. In order to achieve this target, Noble and Green will need $16M US and three years of development, but they are enthusiastic and believe that it is time and money well spent. They will be making an appeal for financing tomorrow at the Science Museum of London.

Green and Noble have a track record of successful speed trials, having developed the Thrust SSC that reached 763 mph in Neveda in 1997 (Noble himself held the land-speed record from 1983 to 1997). They have already invested 18 months of labor in the initiative, so far developing the Bloodhound SSC, a 42 foot-long machine, weighing 6.4 tons, made of solid titanium with a rocket and parachute.

Richard Noble believes that achieving a land-speed 1.4 times the speed of sound will inspire a generation of children to get excited about science and technology. The record attempt will be scheduled for sometime in 2011. The team is currently scouting locations for the record drive. The Neveda desert has been the site of the previous record drives, but the surface has become too brittle, so suggestions for a new test location are welcome. We wish them the best of luck! [From the Daily Mail]

Tags: daredevils, land-speed records, Land-speedRecords, super cars, SuperCars, superlatives, supersonic cars, SupersonicCars, world records, WorldRecords

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