New car news

19 July 2010 - 15:00

1600km/h car unveiled

Boom! The Bloodhound SSC - Britain's 1600km/h jet car - is here!

That ‘Boom!' was, of course, the sound of the Bloodhound breaking the sound barrier, some 373km/hh before hitting its top speed. Not that it has actually reached that top speed yet, or indeed broken the sound barrier. Or moved at any great speed whatsoever. But it will.

This weekend, at the Farnborough air show, the Bloodhound team showed off a 13-metre long, full-scale model of their amazing land speed record car.

Having secured sponsorship from Hampson Industries, a British engineering firm which will build the rear of the car, the team was also able to announce a timeline for its assault on the existing record of 1228km/h, set by ThrustSSC in 1997.

"We now have a route to manufacture for the whole car," chief engineer Mark Chapman told the BBC. "We would hope to be able to shake down the vehicle on a runway in the UK either at the end of 2011 or at the beginning of 2012."

If those tests are successful, Bloodhound will then head to the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa to chase the land speed record.

Powered by a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine with Falcon hybrid rocket below, the Bloodhound develops the equivalent of 100,000kW. Developed by many of the team behind ThrustSSC - including project director Richard Noble and chief aerodynamicist Ron Ayres - it will be driven by wing commander and all-round TopGear legend Andy Green.

We'll be keeping a close eye on the Bloodhound gang as they develop their astonishing car. Best of luck, gents - we're right behind you. Boom!

Sam Philip