Cars

Jet-powered car that looks like a rocket could hit supersonic speeds on ground

  • This rocket shaped car could break the world record
  • It’s the latest project of Bloodhound, who set the record in 1997
  • They’re on the look-out for a driver to take on the challenge

Published on Jun 27, 2024 at 3:44 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson

Last updated on Jun 28, 2024 at 1:29 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

It may look like a rocket but this jet-powered car is solely a land animal.

Bloodhound is planning on creating a land speed record by pushing their car, the Bloodhound LSR, beyond 800 mph.

The company is now looking for drivers to take on this challenge.

READ MORE: Behind the wheel of the world’s fastest-accelerating car

Off like a rocket – Bloodhound’s big goal

Bloodhound’s only driver Andy Green is the current record holder, having driven at 763 mph in 1997.

He completed the run in Bloodhound’s Thrust SSC.

However, he will be standing aside to let some fresh blood have a shot at the record for the next one.

After all, once you’ve traveled that fast once, what is there left to do?

Rocket
Wikimedia Commons

He believes that the ideal candidate is somebody with pilot-level skills or a professional racing driver.

Well yeah, you can’t just get any person off the street to do it.

Unless you live in Monaco, where you’re never that far away from a Formula One driver.

Bloodhound is also looking to ensure that the project is done under a zero-emissions ethos.

That means that the car will run on synthetic fuel, making the feat arguably even more impressive.

Where and when will this record be broken?

Bloodhound has estimated it will cost £12 million to smash the 800 mph record.

As of yet, no timeline has been set for when the challenge will take place, but it will happen on a specially prepared track in South Africa.

Rocket
Bloodhound LSR

Stuart Edmondson, the CEO of Bloodhound, said: “As we enter a new chapter of the Bloodhound LSR project, I’m excited about the opportunity and challenges that lie ahead and confident that this will enable us to return to South Africa and set a new record.

“With a new driver, along with my aim of not using fossil fuels to set a new FIA Outright World Land Speed Record, the project promises to be exciting, engaging and relevant at so many levels.”

We’ll have to wait and see how they get on.

It’s going to be exciting times, though.

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Ben got his start in journalism at Kennedy News and Media, writing stories for national newspapers, websites and magazines. Now working as a freelancer, he divides his time between teaching at News Associates and writing for news sites on all subjects.