New Land Speed Record project targets 1,000mph (pics)

[A HERETIC I AM]

A new bid to break the world Land Speed Record gathered momentum with the announcement of the specifications for the planned Bloodhound SSC project, based in Bristol, England. The car has gone through 10 design evolutions since October 2008 and the final design has now been agreed. Bloodhound SSC's first attempts at the record, which currently stands at 763mph, will take place on the Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape Province of South Africa in 2011.

The car is powered by an EJ200 Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and a rocket engine sitting below it. Bloodhound SSC produces the equivalent of 133,150hp,

Article from Racer Magazine

Bloodhound SSC website.


Rocket over jet concept;






RAF Pilot Andy Green is going to drive this one. He is the same fellow that drove the Thrust SSC that set the current record back in 1997.



His previous ride;

[tridim]

1. Neat, but really, what's the point?

The wheel has its limit, but that doesn't mean people have to risk their lives to find it. Just fly a plane.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. It's an engineering exercise.

"Our Mission
To confront and overcome the impossible
using science, technology, engineering and mathematics

To motivate the next generation to deal with
global 21st century challenges"

[John N Morgan]

6. Then why not magnetic propulsion instead of another fuel burner? Something really innovative

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. How would you accomplish magnetic propulsion without a guide-way or track?

If they used a track it wouldn't be a "car", right?

(unmanned) Rocket sleds using guide-ways or tracks have already exceeded mach 8.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

41. Because it's THERE.

What other reason IS there?

:shrug:

[Brother Buzz]

3. This is the dude that broke Craig Breedlove's record

Craig is our local legend someone I've always admired. I heard he had retired, and now just confirmed he retired and sold the car to Steve Fossett in 2006 who was to make an attempt on the land speed record in 2007. Fossett died in a plane crash in 2007.

Fossett was chasing every damn record in the world; Sailing, balloons, airplanes, and even submarine diving records! Graham Hawkes was building a special sub that was designed to go the full 36,000 ft down to the bottom.

http://gizmodo.com/5059147/a-look-at-steve-fossetts-super-secret-flying-diving-space-bound-submersible

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. Gary Gabelich broke Breedlove's record in 1970..

driving the "Blue Flame"



I remember reading about Breedlove and "The Spirit of America" when I was a kid though. He traded the record back and forth with Art Arfons between 1963 - '65. He then held it for 5 years till Gabelich came along.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_speed_record#1963_.E2.80.93_present_.28jet_and_rocket_propulsion.29

Cool stuff, anyway. I'd like to see an American team take it back from the Brits though.

[Brother Buzz]

12. Ahh, I'm easily confussed. Breedlove was poised to strike back in 1996 then crashed and in

1997 Thrust SSC simply had more juice.

[Mopar151]

29. Breedlove and Arfons = Real American Heroes

And they have a lot of company - Gary Gabelich, Stan Barret, Walt Arfons...

And the ardent pursuers of the wheel-driven record as well - Mickey Thompson, the Summers Brothers, Al Teague, Don Vesco, Nolan White, and the Burklands. The LSR is one of the last frontiers reachable without billions in backing, by a (very) clever dreamer or 2. More people have summited K2 than have been over 400 mph on land - More people have summited Mt. Everest than are in the 200 mph club at Bonneville.

Not to slight Andy Green, John Cobb, EK Estyton, or the Campbells, pioneers in their own right.

I've posted the vid of Burkland's 450 mph pass here before, but it deserves a spot now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqO6msKE4G4

Andy Green's record run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mgO1M3gyfI

Don Vesco, Al Teague, and a 251 mph electric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q07yMkBRD5E

[A HERETIC I AM]

34. Interesting facts. Thanks for the post....

I've driven across I80 through Utah probably 50 times in my career as an OTR driver but never, not once did I go by during Speed Weeks at the Salt Flats. It's something I've always wanted to see.

Thanks for the vid links. Cool stuff.

[Ian David]

4. That's nice, but how does it handle in the snow? n/t

[bridgit]

8. The Thrust car was awesome, seen an interview with Andy Green and I think he's the perfect guy

for this stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmbH1ApUG8M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQOWYkJSzI&feature=related

[flvegan]

9. 133,000 horsepower, put to the ground? Astonishing.

What a wonder in engineering.

Now, someone figure out how to put twin superchargers on it, install a comfy interior and a sat-nav system, and slap a Lotus badge on it (since it IS British). Sign me up for one!

[cherokeeprogressive]

11. Actually, it won't be 133,000 hp put to the ground. That takes mechanically driven wheels.

This will be basically a jet/rocket powered car on spindle mounted wheels that have no capability to push the car.

[flvegan]

15. Okay, it's thrust transferred to a vehicle touching the ground. Better?

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. Now you know I wasn't trying to put you down...

Goodness.

I just wasn't sure that herbivores were aware of such things LOLOLOLOL.

[flvegan]

18. I know.

I was trying to be funny. This herbivore was attempting to bridge the "create the 1,000 mph rocket car/street legal Pagani Zonda (or Veyron, or Koenigsegg or Ultimate Aero) hybrid". Wouldn't even care if the interior was leather.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. I've often fantasized about driving a Top Fuel car on the street....

sort of like your idea.

Imagine idling a Top Fuel Dragster up to a stop light, next to a state trooper in his Crown Victoria. The light goes green and by the time the trooper's wheels start to turn, I'm an eighth mile down the street, still accelerating!

2 minutes later he comes cruising up next to my out of gas vehicle, 2 miles from where I started.

"Boy, you in a HEAP of trouble"

:rofl:

[flvegan]

21. I hope that is one damn straight, smooth street.

Steering always seems to be an afterthought in anything doing single digit 1/4 times. I fantasize about an F1 car on the street. But then, we're back to really, REALLY smooth streets.

The funny thing is that IIRC the average radar gun is only good for 1/4 mile distance. So that cop is going to clock you exiting his range at 300+ mph...and increasing. Of course, if you've pebbled his windscreen with enough Mickey Thompson fallout from your departure, he may not get any read at all.

That would be a classic Sheriff Buford T. Justice scenario.

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. Buford T. Justice.....ROFL!

That's exactly what I'm thinking

There is a section of US 41 near me that would do rather nicely, I think. It was recently widened and paved, so it's smooth and 3 lanes wide. About 3 miles of straight away too.

Don't forget, along with the "Mickey Thompson fallout", his car gets covered in my clutch dust also.

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. Georgia State Trooper with the Smokey Hat and mirrored sunglasses.

I got stopped by that guy on I-95 south of Atlanta going about 105.

"You in some trouble boy"

I gave him my military ID. The next words out of his mouth were "Mr. xxxxxxx, you wanna slow down along here son."

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. LOL..I've run across one or two of those types in the past.

It's always much funnier in retrospect, never when it's happening!

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. Trust me, I was scared shitless. It WAS like something out of a bad movie though, up until

such time as he saw my ID.

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. I saw a Veyron at the L.A. Auto Show when it was brand new, and thought... why?

I've only driven one true "muscle car", and that was in the late seventies. A friend had a Camaro with a 427 or 429 (I can never remember which was the Ford and which was the Chevy) that made about 450 hp on the dyno.

It was mad fast, and scary. If it would have been my car, I don't think I could have ever kept tires on it.

I assume you saw the video the other day of the guy in Texas driving his Veyron into the water?

[flvegan]

23. 427 GM, 429 Ford.

I did see the vid of the Veyron. Same guy owns the Enzo wrecked by that SNL guy that did the Ladies Man skits. And he's an idiot.

I built a Vette a long, long time ago that was set up for the 1/4 but I drove it on the street. And it was stupid to do so. I had a Grand National that I put some time into. Tires were a real problem for me, but at the time, I thankfully didn't get a lot of challenges. I mean seriously...a Buick that out of the box could roast a Ferrari Testarossa (in a straight line)?

[cherokeeprogressive]

25. I did not know that (Veyron owner). My dream car would be a Z06. I loved the Grand National.

Years ago, when I was stationed at Cecil Field (now gone) in Jacksonville, FL, we drove out into the "country" on our way to a barbeque and saw four Dodge Daytona Chargers sitting in tall grass next to an outbuilding. The one with the pointy nose and tall wing.

Later I heard that they guy was keeping them for a day when they'd be "worth some money".

Wow herbivore, I have a newfound respect for you. Not that I didn't respect you before, but my goodness, you're a man after my own heart.

[flvegan]

33. The GN was my baby.

The Z06 is a great ride, but I'd spend the bit extra for the ZR1, the ultimate "affordable" American supercar. $100k to roast the finest in sub-$500k Italian exotica in any theater? I'll take two.

I'm a total gearhead. Have been since I started peeking at my dad's Car & Driver in the 70's. Mmmm...Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer. Like my very first time. Got me hooked.

[cherokeeprogressive]

36. I got hooked on cars in a roundabout way. In the mid 70's, my Pop had a "sand rail" and we went to

a place called Glamis about 10 times every year.

My dad had a sand rail with a 2180cc VW hanging on the back. Dual Webers, an 009 distributor, Bosch Blue Coil, and an electric fuel pump. It would do 3rd gear wheelies at about 60mph and climb "Competition Hill" with the best of them.

The '67 Mustang Fastback with the 302 was actually a disappointment (two weeks after my 16th birthday) after driving that sand rail, but I didn't know how to compare off-road vehicles to street legal ones.

I'd give ANYTHING to have the Mustang back.

[flvegan]

38. Like the Ariel Atom, anything after a rollcage w/engine would disappoint, I think.

Never had the sand rail experience. Some day.

[A HERETIC I AM]

30. You had a Buick GN? 87, 88?

Quickest zero to 60 production car in the world at the time.

Back in 1988 I was working my first gig in motor racing, driving this;


The truck carried 3 show cars, 3 engines on display stands, a TV/VCR sound system and an apparel display.

I did displays at Buick dealerships like this;



Often the dealer would have a Grand National or a customer/friend would bring theirs to show off for the day.
If I am not mistaken, a clean condition, late 80's vintage GN still brings a good price.

Must have been fun to own.

[flvegan]

35. 1987.

She was a 19k mile example in the showroom when I bought her. A fine example, except that she had the problem of blowing the too-short top hose from the intercooler to the top of the intake under full boost. You could hear the whistle/whine over the boost. Shitty hose, shitty clamps. We fixed that.

I had an '87 Z51 Corvette at the same time. Guess which one I drove as my daily. In supreme comfort, I ate modded 5.0 'stangs for lunch. Again...in a straight line.

She died saving my life from a fucking idiot in a VW Cabrio with no sense of right-of-way. T-boned that car at 45 mph, then a concrete pole at 30 mph or so.

I still think of her often.

That is quite the travel rig w/precious cargo. What a kickass job.

[A HERETIC I AM]

37. :::Head bowed in remembrance of a fine car::::

Yeah, that gig was fun. The company was King Sports, owned by Kenny Bernstein. We had two of those rigs and a pool of 7 or 8 cars we rotated. You'll remember back then Buick was involved in every major class of motor racing in this country, with the Regal in Winston Cup, they provided a carbureted V6 in the NASCAR Busch Grand National series, a naturally aspirated, fuel injected V6 for the Indy Lights series (called the "American Racing Series" back then), Bernstein ran the "Budweiser King" Reatta Funny Car on the NHRA circuit, they were running Turbo V6's at Indianapolis and had a 1000 horsepower, turbocharged, intercooled engine in IMSA.

Of the ones I recall, we had show car copies of the #26 Quaker State Regal (the one pictured) and a #26 LeSabre, the #12 Miller High Life Regal of Bobby Allison, an Indy Lights car, a copy of Bernsteins Reatta Funny Car, a MOMO sponsored IMSA Prototype, and the Buick Wildcat Concept car;



The Wildcat was pretty cool. It ran, but not reliably. It was mostly a "pushmobile" as we called it. Heavy as all fuck, I'll tell ya. When it ran it was fun, though I never drove it more than a few hundred yards, on and off the truck and to position it in the display.

[flvegan]

40. I'm absolutely jealous of your experience.

That photo is the 86 or 87 Wildcat, yes? Carbon fiber parts and all, IIRC.

I had a buddy when I was in high school that had a '68 or something Wildcat. A black four door with a big engine (no idea what it was beyond it having 8 spark plugs). All I know is that it was like sitting down in something that seemed like it was the size of New Jersey, and charging forth. Those poor tires. I don't even remember if it was posi, or just hateful towards the right rear.

[A HERETIC I AM]

42. The concept car was built in 1985, believe it or not....

and yes, lots of carbon fiber.

The engine was a complete one-off, built (I was told) by McClaren in Michigan. It started as a Buick V6 block, but they modified it with a double OHC/4 valve system. The car was 4 wheel drive and had a four speed, semi-automatic transmission. It worked like a motorcycle shifter, with the shift handle between the seats in the console. The canopy was electrically operated.

Here's a shot of it with the canopy down;


The steering wheel had a display in the center and finger tip buttons for various systems, things that are commonplace today but were cutting edge back then. At some point, PPG was allowed to use it in their CART Pace Car program, and you can see their logo in the shot above, on the side, just behind the front wheel. The headlights and tail lights were strobes for the purposes of on-track pace car duties. As I mentioned in the previous post, it was temperamental as hell. When I first started carrying it, it was running but on my 3rd display, as I was driving it to the truck at the end of the day, it caught fucking fire! I was in it with the canopy down and heard the dealership guys yelling FIRE! FIRE!. I hit the button to raise the canopy but running on the underpowered electric motors that raised it, it seemed to take forever to get high enough to get yanked out by the sales manager. There was no harm done though. Funny thing was, I couldn't get it to start for about 3 weeks after that. Then one day it just started up, as if it had had enough time off!

I've dealt with quite a few different types of show cars in my days, from the first Ferrari 550 Maranello to come to the states, an F50, a Lambo Diablo, NASCAR's of various types to a pristine Model A Sedan, but that Wildcat was the most memorable.

Edited for sentence structure.

[Mopar151]

39. A healthy big block is a handful on street tires!

My friend had a 440 GTX that was stoopid fast (I still have the transmission). I remember road testing an old 440 Mopar cop car - roll into it at 20 mph, it was still pullin' at 120 when I ran out of brave.
A friend of my Dad's had a 427 Corvette (an L-88 clone) that would light the tires at 60 mph - you could spin it out passing a car if you wer'nt careful!
Larry Larson's self-built Nova won Hot Rod's "Drag Week" the last 2 years - drive it in off the street, drop the tire pressures, and run 204 mph in the 1/4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sefQvleDsag Yowza!

A blown, alky burning "Pro Mod" - not quite a street car, but you could get in the door, self start, and drive it up to a stoplight...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu7Uq8ojf_s

And you could buy either one for the down payment on the Veyron...

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. You understand that it's not wheel driven, right?

But lol on the rest of your post!

[flvegan]

16. Of course.

Like anything powered by a rocket or like device. I was trying to be funny.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. Wow with a capital OW. My goodness but that's fast.

At 1000 mph he'll cover the standing mile in 3.6 seconds.

I hope he doesn't end up like this:

[A HERETIC I AM]

43. That pic is of the Spirit of America, isn't it?

It didn't occur to me to ask last night.

[asdjrocky]

14. A jet engin...

and a rocket engin. Just for that little extra kick.

[Stevenmarc]

28. Unfortunately they used a wiring harness off an old Jag so it does 0mph if it hits a puddle

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. LOL...

Q: Why do the English drink warm beer?
A: Because all the refrigerators are made by Lucas

The 3 position Lucas switch;

1) Dim
2) Flicker
3) Off


Hee hee.

[bridgit]

32. oh lordy they're prolly using Lucas insturments too

x(