ThrustSSC (SuperSonic Car) is a British designed and built jet propelled car designed by Richard Noble and Ron Ayers , which holds the world land speed record. It is powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey engines, as used in British variants of the F-4 Phantom II.
 ThrustSSC at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA. |
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On October 15, 1997 in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada USA, driven by Andy Green, ThrustSSC became the first land vehicle to smash the sound barrier, reaching a speed of 1227 km/h (763 mph).
In 1983 Richard Noble had broken the world land speed record with his earlier car Thrust2, which reached a speed of 1018 km/h (633 mph).
ThrustSSC and Thrust2 are displayed at the Coventry Transport Museum in Coventry, England.
After the record breaking ThrustSSC run the World Motor Sport Council released the following message:
The World Motor Sport Council homologated the new world land speed records set by the team ThrustSSC of Richard Noble, driver Andy Green, on 15 October 1997 at Black Rock Desert, Nevada (USA).
This is the first time in history that a land vehicle has exceeded the speed of sound. The new records are as follows:
Flying mile 1227.985 km/h (763.035 mph)
Flying kilometre 1223.657 km/h (760.343 mph)
In setting the record, the sound barrier was broken in both the north and south runs.
Paris, 11 November 1997
External links
- Photo-Diary by John Coppinger - including an aerial photo by Richard Meredith-Hardy showing the shockwave as ThrustSSC exceeds the speed of sound.