The first officially registered absolute speed record - 63.149 km/h - was set on December 18, 1898 by Count Gaston de Chasloux-Lobas in an electric car designed by Charles Jeantot at a distance of 1 km.
The first to cross the 100-kilometer mark was on April 29, 1899 by the Belgian Camille Genatzi, who drove an electric car “La Jamais Contente” (French: Always dissatisfied) with an engine power of 40 hp. reached a speed of 105.876 km/h.
The 200-kilometer speed limit was reached in 1911 by racer R. Burman. In 1911, in a Benz car, he showed 228.04 km/h.
The 300-kilometer speed was first achieved by H. O. D. Sigrev in 1927. He showed 327.89 km/h in the Sunbeam car.
The 400-kilometer speed limit was first “crossed” by Malcolm Campbell in the Napier-Campbell car in 1932 (408.63 km/h).
The 500-kilometer speed limit was overcome in 1937 by John Eyeston in a Rolls-Royce Easton car (502.43 km/h).
The 1000-kilometer speed limit was first crossed on October 23, 1970 by the American Harry Gabelich in the Blue Flame rocket car on the Bonneville dry salt lake, showing an average speed of 1014.3 km/h. The Blue Flame was 11.3 m long and weighed 2250 kg.
The highest speed in the world - 1229.78 km/h on a ground vehicle - a jet car (Thrust SSC) was shown by the Englishman Andy Green on October 15, 1997. The average speed over two races was 1226.522 km/h The 21-kilometer long track was marked on the bottom of a dry lake in Nevada (USA). Green's crew was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbojet engines with a total power of 110 thousand horsepower.
The highest speed a woman has achieved in a car is 843.323 km/h. It was shown in December 1976 by the American Kitty Hambleton on a three-wheeled car S.M. Motivator, power 48 thousand. l.c. in the Alward Desert, Oregon, USA. Based on the sum of two races in two directions, her official record is 825.126 km/h.
The highest speed for steam cars was achieved in August 2009 by a car developed by a group of British engineers. The average top speed of the new car in two races was 139.843 miles per hour, or 223.748 kilometers per hour. In the first race, the car reached a speed of 136.103 miles per hour (217.7 kilometers per hour), and in the second - 151.085 miles per hour (241.7 kilometers per hour). The steam car is equipped with 12 boilers in which water is heated by the combustion of natural gas. From the boilers, steam under pressure, at a speed twice the speed of sound, is supplied to the turbine. About 40 liters of water evaporate in the boilers per minute. The total power of the power plant is 360 horsepower.
The fastest production passenger car is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. On July 4, 2010, at the Volkswagen test track, driver Pierre Henri Raphanel was able to reach a speed of 427.933 km/h in the first race in one direction, and in the second race in the opposite direction the car accelerated to 434.211 km/h. The result stunned even the creators of the car themselves, who were counting on an approximate maximum speed of 425 km/h. The race was attended by a representative of the German Technical Supervision Agency and representatives of the Guinness Book of Records, who recorded a new maximum speed record of 431.072 km/h (268 miles), which was the average between the two attempts. According to official data from the manufacturer, it reaches speed of 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, 200 km/h in 6.7 seconds, 300 km/h in 14.6 seconds, 400 km/h in 55.6 seconds. The car is equipped with a W-shaped 16-cylinder 64-valve engine with four turbochargers with a displacement of 7993 cm3. Maximum possible power 1200 hp. at 6000 rpm.
The fastest car running on diesel fuel is the Mercedes-Benz C111-III with a 3-liter engine with a power of 230 hp. During testing on the Nardo circuit in Southern Italy from October 5-15, 1978, it reached a speed of 327.3 km/h.
The fastest production diesel passenger car - the BMW 325tds reaches a speed of 214 km/h. It is equipped with a 6-cylinder 2.5 liter diesel engine with turbocharging. Engine power - 143 hp. Average fuel consumption is 6.5 liters per 100 km.
Speed record for a car with wheel drive: 737.395 km/h. Modern record crews are powered by turbojet or rocket engines; in the same category, the engine must turn the wheels. The record was set on October 18, 2001 by Don Vesco in a Turbinator car on Lake Bonneville.
The first car to be capable of reaching 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h) will be the Bloodhound SSC. The vehicle will be powered by three engines: a hybrid rocket engine, the Eurojet EJ200 jet engine found on the Eurofighter Typhoon, and an 800-horsepower, 12-cylinder V-twin gasoline engine that pumps fuel and provides electrical and hydraulic power to the aircraft and missile. On July 19, 2010, at the Farnborough International Airshow, which opened in the outskirts of London, a presentation of a full-size model of the Bloodhound SSC took place. If all goes as planned, Bloodhound SSC will set a new world land speed record (for manned crews) in 2011.
"(fr. Always dissatisfied ) with an engine power of 40 hp. reached a speed of 105.876 km/h.
Bluebird Electric speed records
Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the world speed record nine times in various Bluebirds. On the sandy coast of Wales Pendine Sands he set the following records:
- On September 25, 1924, Campbell set a record of 146.16 mph in a Sunbeam car.
- On July 21, 1925, he reached a speed of 242.79 km/h, breaking the 150 mph mark.
Subsequently, Campbell abandoned Sunbeam cars and built cars of his own design.
- At the beginning of 1927, Campbell raised the speed record to 281 km per hour on Pendina Beach (UK).
A year later, Campbell took to the start line with a new “Blue Bird”. There at Daytona he set a record of 333 km/h.
- In 1935, at Lake Bonneville, Utah, he reached a speed of 301.12 mph or 484.620 km/h.
Campbell set his latest record on Utah's famed Bonneville Dry Salt Lake, discovering that the lake's salty surface was not only perfectly smooth, but also provided excellent tire grip. Almost all subsequent speed records were set at Bonneville. After this, the no longer young Campbell (he was 49 years old) left the sport, however, in 1940 he broke the world speed record on water. Campbell's record was 237 km/h.
- His son, Donald, continued the tradition and broke the 400 mph barrier in a Bluebird.
Campbell first took the new BluebirdCN7 car to the start line in 1960 at Bonneville. And one of the races almost ended in disaster: the car flew into the air at full speed, turned over and hit the ground. Contrary to expectations, the driver escaped with light scratches. Having completely rebuilt the Blue Bird and attached a high keel to it for better directional stability, Campbell took it to Australia, to the salty Lake Eyre, deciding that the Bonneville track was no longer suitable for such speeds. As a result, Campbell managed to break the record only in 1964. It was 403 mph (648 km/h). When designing the car, Campbell expected much more. But he must have been happy about this, especially since he was now officially listed as the fastest racer on the planet.
- The current world speed record holder is Don Wales. He set two American national records and eight British records. Wells, following Campbell, continued to set records, the first of which was the speed record for a car in 1998.
- In 2009, he set the current speed record for a steam car at 148 km/h.
- In August 2011, Don Wells set a new record - he crossed the 500 km/h mark.
In total, Bluebird set 27 speed records, 9 of them using Castrol oil.
Notes
Links
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Speed has always attracted people - it allows them to instantly cover vast distances, significantly saving precious time. However, it was not only convenience that attracted people - after all, the name of the one who set a new record was immortalized by the technique and acquired worldwide fame. That is why world car speed records are constantly updated - hundreds of brilliant engineers are working on the creation of even more powerful and advanced cars, millions of dollars are invested in their development, and hundreds of thousands of caring people are waiting with bated breath for the next milestone to be overcome. Surely everyone who cares about speed will be interested in learning about the history of its conquest.
The first speed record is believed to belong to the French racer and designer Emile Levassor, who set it during the Paris-Bordeaux race. The whole world remembers his phrase, which served as the beginning of the desire for high speeds: “We delivered thirty kilometers per hour! It was real madness! But in 1895, there were no official definitions of record indicators, so formally the French engineer was left without the status of a pioneer.
And it went to Count Gaston de Chasselu-Lobas, who took care of registering his achievement. The car, developed by designer Charles Jeantot, accelerated to 63 km/h at a distance of 1 kilometer. His eternal rival, professional racing driver Camille Zhenatzi, decided to take the title of record holder, who accelerated to 66 km/h just a few days later. This is how a long-term confrontation began, during which the cars continued to be improved and received, as well as aerodynamic bodies. In 1899, Comte de Chaslus-Lobas finally managed to significantly outpace the enemy, reaching 92.7 km/h - then such a speed was considered simply unattainable.
But just two months later, Kamil Zhenatzi set the first landmark speed record in a car - he overcame the 100 km/h mark, exceeding it by 5 kilometers. He owed much of his incredible success to a car called “Eternally Dissatisfied,” which was equipped with electric motors and had a streamlined body made of alloyed aluminum alloy. This car was the last of a number of record-breaking electric vehicles - all other cars were already equipped with other types of power units.
Surprisingly, the next milestone was first overcome by steam transport, which had not yet been completely written off - in 1906, racer Fred Marriott in a Stanley car accelerated to 205 km/h. , then still very imperfect, could not reach such a record. But in 1909, the Blitzen Benz, driven by Victor Emery, achieved a speed of 202 km/h on the Brookland circuit in Great Britain. Two years later, Robert Burman set the next world speed record using a car with an internal combustion engine - he reached a value of 228 km/h.
Chasing the impossible
The next world speed record was set by Henry Seagrev, who Sunbeam “The Slug” 1000 hp, equipped with two aircraft engines with a total power of 900 horsepower. On the Daytona Beach track in 1927, he accelerated to 327 km/h, which allowed him to simultaneously exceed the milestone mileage of 200 per hour. It is interesting that, unlike previously existing prototypes, this machine was not at all light - its total launch weight exceeded 4 tons!
Another famous racer, Malcolm Campbell, who had previously tried several times unsuccessfully to win a world title in a Blue Bird car equipped with a Napier engine, could not come to terms with Sigrev’s championship. In 1931, Campbell brought a new generation of his famous car to Daytona Beach, which was called the Campbell-Napier-Railton. During two runs, he showed a speed of 396 km/h, just shy of the next threshold. However, a year later he returned with a slightly modified car, and reached a speed of 404 km/h, officially writing his name in history and receiving the title of knight.
However, soon internal combustion engines also had to make room, giving way to more powerful jet turbines. But until this happened, the American John Eyston took advantage of the maximum available power of the internal combustion engine at that time, installing two aircraft engines with a capacity of 5,000 horsepower on his car. In 1937, his record-breaking car reached a speed of 502 km/h, driving several times along the bottom of dry Lake Bonneville. In 1939, this record was raised to 575 km/h, but Eyston refused further competition, and was soon surpassed by racer John Cobb, who showed results first of 595 and then of 640 km/h.
Modern records
After World War II, most racers switched to jet engines, which seemed... Indeed, on the same dry Lake Bonneville, American Harry Gabelich in 1970 accelerated to a speed of 1014 km/h. Such a car, called Blue Flame, was equipped with a single jet turbine, the thrust of which reached approximately 22 thousand horsepower. In 1979, it was stated that stuntman Stanley Barrett broke the speed of sound, but the driver did not want to make a second run in accordance with the rules for setting records, and the army specialists who took the measurements did not record his achievement in the protocols.
To date, the maximum vehicle speed record belongs to the supersonic vehicle Thrust SSC, which showed a result of 1228 km/h. The corresponding confirmatory record was made in 1997, when the car entered the track in the Black Rock Desert of the United States. The car was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines operating in afterburner mode - their total power reached 110 thousand horsepower. British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, who holds the title of driver, was invited especially to drive such an incredible vehicle.
Now the team that created the Thrust SSC is working on creating an even faster car, called the Bloodhound SSC. Especially for it, the British Air Force provided the developers with two jet engines and an 800-horsepower V8 gasoline engine, all the power of which will be used to provide the engines with electrical power, as well as to drive the fuel supply pumps. It is expected that the car will overcome the barrier of 1,000 miles or 1,609 kilometers per hour, and the well-deserved record holder Andy Green will sit behind the wheel.
The speed record for a production car was set by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which at one time accelerated to 431 km/h thanks to the W16, which produces 1,200 horsepower. Interestingly, many other manufacturers are trying to challenge this record. The problem is that any production cars of this brand are equipped with a speed limiter that activates at 415 km/h, while on the car that participated in the record race it was disabled.
However, the fastest on public roads was the Ford GT, which was modified by PPR and received a new name BADD GT. The car with a forced V8 develops 1,700 horsepower and reaches a speed of 455 km/h. But this car cannot be considered a production car, since it was produced in a single copy.
Sometimes speeds are confused with a similar achievement on land, which is completely wrong. Thus, the maximum speed achieved by a vehicle that has not left the earth’s surface is 10,430 km/h. It belongs to an unmanned missile sled moving along a specially laid rail track. This achievement was recorded in 2003 at Holloman Air Force Base in the USA.
Faster and faster
When the record-breaking Bloodhound SSC is completed and this car reaches a new milestone, what will be the next threshold that engineers will want to cross? Many people will say that such entertainment is a waste of money, does not bring any benefit to society, and that record racing should be stopped. However, it is worth remembering that many technical solutions are used that were first used in such record-breaking vehicles. Therefore, the whole world should look forward to new speed records.
– max. speed 350 km/h
Lamborghini is one of the most attractive brands in the automotive industry. These cars are true masterpieces that fly like the wind. The maximum speed of 350 km/h is the culmination of the developments of the Italian car manufacturer. The massive V12 engine produces a whopping 750 horsepower, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds.
14. Ascari A10
– max. speed 350 km/h
British car manufacturer Ascari has created a very powerful A10 model for their 10th anniversary. Performance of the Ascari A10 is estimated at 655 kW with a modified V8 engine from the BMW 5. The supercar accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds.
13. Gumpert Apollo
– max. speed 359 km/h
Gumpert Apollo reaches 100 km/h in 3 seconds, has a 4.2-liter V8 engine with 650 hp. The cost of this model is about 450 thousand dollars. The German-made sports car was inspired by fighter jets. The company says the car can reach 305 km/h upside down in a tunnel, i.e. ride along the ceiling, but no one tried to do this.
12. Noble M600
– max. speed 362 km/h
The British M600 is the simplest and cheapest supercar. This modest “pocket rocket” has a 600 hp engine. and accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. The M600 is hand-assembled in Leicestershire and costs $200,000 per copy.
11. Pagani Huayra
– max. speed 370 km/h
Pagani stunned the world with its beautiful Zonda, but the Huayra exceeded all expectations. This model is known for its incredible performance, thanks to its twin 6-liter V12 turbo engine. The car costs a little more than $1,300,000 and accelerates to 100 km/h in less than 2.6 seconds.
10. Zenvo ST1
– max. Speed – 375 km/h.
Zenvo ST1 is a hand-built Danish supercar produced by Zenvo and the first Danish supercar ST1. The cost of this car is estimated at more than $1,800,000 for a limited number of models. Zenvo ST1 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds with a top speed of 375 km/h. The 6.8-liter V8 engine produces 1102 hp.
9. McLaren F1
– maximum speed 388 km/h.
Before taking on Ferrari and Lamboghini, British manufacturer McLaren was known only for its victories in Formula 1. But the McLaren F1, with its carbon fiber body housing a 6.1-liter V12 engine, became an automotive icon among legendary models. A new McLaren F1 could sell for more than $5 million. The driver's seat, located in the center, makes this car the coolest in the world.
8. Koenigsegg CCX
– max. speed 394 km/h
The Koenigsegg CCX first appeared in 2006. The Koenigsegg CCX has a twin V8 engine that is rated at 806 hp. Available to order from the Swedish company, the CCX costs $4,800,000 and its 4.8-liter engine reaches 394 km/h.
7. Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo
– maximum speed 399 km/h.
The Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo was first introduced in 2000 and marked the beginning of a supercar battle that continues to this day. 2005 model with 750 hp and a predatory 5-liter engine costs about 600 thousand dollars. This model accelerates to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds.
6. SSC Ultimate Aero
– max. speed 412 km/h
The SSC Ultimate Aero (Shelby Super Cars) was, for a very brief moment, the fastest car in the world. The car boasts a 6.3-liter twin-turbo V8 engine producing 1,287 hp. The price of such a masterpiece is 650 thousand dollars. Accelerates to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. The unique feature of this supercar is that it does not have any electronic driving aids i.e. The driver directly controls the car.
5.9ff GT9-R
– maximum speed 413.5 km/h.
Built on the legendary Porsche 911 platform, the GT9-R is a product of German tuning company 9ff. At first glance, this car can be mistaken for a regular 911, but the price of more than 1 million immediately makes it clear that this is not the case. The modified 4-liter Flat 6 engine accelerates the GT9-R to 413 km/h.
4. Koenigsegg Agera R
Unlike brand names that we have become accustomed to over the years like Ferrari and Bugatti, Koenigsegg gained its reputation in a very short time. The Koenigsegg Agera R is an example of why this company is so famous. With a top speed of 413 km/h, the Agera R is the fastest supercar on the market. Its 5-liter twin-turbo V8 engine produces 1,140 hp. accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds.
3. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
It seems that French manufacturer Bugatti was bought out by VW in 1998 with the sole purpose of creating the fastest car in the world. The original Bugatti Veyron achieved this, but was dethroned shortly after. With a price tag of $2,250,000, the four turbos and W16 engine produces 1,000 hp. Acceleration to 100 km/h is carried out in 2.4 seconds.
2. Hennessey Venom GT
– maximum speed 435 km/h.
What do we get by combining the Lotus Elise chassis with a thunderous 1244 hp? and a 7-liter V8 engine with two turbochargers? A rocket seems like an obvious answer, but in this case it's the fastest car in production in the world. Costing $1,200,000, the Hennessey Venom accelerates to 435 km/h.
1. . Devel Sixteen
– 560 km/h.
With performance imaginable only in childhood fantasies, the Devel Sixteen is the fastest limited edition car in the world. For the first time this car was presented at the auto exhibition in Dubai, worth more than one million dollars. This hypercar has a V16 engine that produces a claimed 5,000 hp, accelerating to 100 km/h in 1.8 seconds.
The battle for the land speed record is heating up...
The British hypersonic racing car will become the world's first land vehicle to exceed 1,600 km per hour. It uses a turbojet engine from a fighter jet and a small additional rocket engine to produce a total of a staggering 133,000 horsepower. With. In 2019, a test attempt will be made to exceed the threshold of 800 km/h, in 2020 the team will try to exceed 1,600 km/h. Both attempts will take place on the Hakskeen Plateau in South Africa.
If everything works out, the Bloodhound car will become the last supersonic racing car at the moment, the development of which was pursued solely by one goal - to get the crown and title of the fastest car on earth.
It was preceded by a whole galaxy of various super-fast cars. At the same time, the first of them, by today's standards, could accelerate only slightly faster than a turtle. But without them there would be no progress. Let's remember all the records on land.
1898: Jeantaud Duc - 62 km/h
It all started in 1898, when, essentially with French roots, Jeantaud Duc set a then unprecedented speed record - “flying” in a straight line at a speed of 63.15 km/h. Then it deservedly became the fastest car in the world.
At the helm during the record was the fearless racer Gaston de Chasselou-Lobat.
The Jeantaud company continued to produce cars until 1908.
1899: La Jamais Contente - 100 km/h
The Duke briefly retained the record. They beat him in a car called La Jamais Contente, which in French can be translated as “always dissatisfied.” The car was also an electric car, and for the first time ever it crossed the 100 km/h threshold.
Behind the control levers was the Belgian Camille Genatsi.
1904: DMG Mercedes Simplex - 156 km/h
Another Belgian, Pierre de Casters, took a Mercedes for a record race and accelerated it to almost 160 km/h during a race near the Belgian city of Ostend. It was May 1904. The car developed 90 hp. With. via a huge 11.9 liter four-cylinder internal combustion engine.
1904: Gobron-Brillié - 167 km/h
Monsieur de Caters did not rest on his laurels for long. In July of the same year, Frenchman Louise Rigolli broke the record. Also in Ostend, only the speed was higher - 167 km/h, or to be more precise 166.66 km/h. His success was helped by a 15-liter unique engine with a counter-piston system.
Automobiles were still in primitive stages of development, but the era of speed had truly arrived.
1913: Fiat S76 - 213 km/h
This car, known throughout the world as " ", really shouldn't be on the list. Yes, the car was built by Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli specifically to break the land speed record. The red monster was equipped with a 28-liter 4-cylinder engine producing about 300 hp. With.
American racer Arthur Duray, in a race in Ostend in December 1913, was able to reach a maximum speed of 213 km/h, but the race in the opposite direction was never carried out within the hour allotted by the regulations.
1914: Blitzen Benz - 200 km/h
But Blitzen Benz skated the race as expected a year later. It happened in Great Britain, where in June 1914. The son of the British Ambassador to Russia, Lydston Hornsted, was driving the monster built by Benz with a 21.5-liter engine. The engine produced about 200 hp. With. The race took place at Brookland Circuit, near London.
The First World War, which broke out soon after, put an end to peaceful racing for several years.
1922: Sunbeam 350 l. With. - 218 km/h
After the war, engineers and racers realized that the key to greater speed was the use of aircraft technology, which began to feature engines of enormous power (for the time). Reasoning on the topic led to the appearance of the Sunbeam car with 350 hp. With. in 1920. Under the long hood was an 18.3-liter V12.
Irish brewery heir Kenelm Lee Guinness drove the car to a record of 218 km per hour in May 1922 at Brooklands. This was the last time the speed record was set on a track rather than on a beach or salt marsh.
1925: Sunbeam Blue Bird - 243 km/h
Malcolm Campbell bought a 350-horsepower Sunbeam three years later and gave it his own name, “Blue Bird,” and set about setting a new speed record.
Powerful cars began to require longer straights to reach their full potential. Pendina Beach in Wales has become a popular choice for many British record attempts due to its long, flat sandy beach.
In September 1924, the Sunbeam "Blue Bird" reached 234 km/h, but in July of the following year the record was improved - 243 km/h.
1927: Sunbeam 1000 l. With. - 328 km/h
To overcome 300 km/h, that’s the goal we set for ourselves. But to do this, engines of gigantic power were required. Surprisingly, there were such people already at the end of the 20s. 1,000 horses! This is not the stunted engine of Adam Kozlevich’s car from the unforgettable novel by Ilf and Petrov “The Golden Calf”; rather, it is closer to the modern Bugatti Veyron. The 1927 car was one horse short.
The first who managed to achieve incredible speed for those times was the Sunbeam car - “Sunbeam” and this name perfectly revealed the whole essence of this. Using a car was fraught with problems - there weren't enough direct beaches in Britain. Therefore, for the speed record, the car was sent across the Atlantic to Daytona, Florida, where the beaches could provide enough space to achieve top speed.
The record of 327.97 km/h was set! The driver was Briton Henry Segrave.
It is not surprising that the tragedy occurred side by side with high-speed races. Just a year later, Indy 500 winner Frank Lockhart crashed to his death during his 1928 record attempt at Daytona when an exploding tire capsized the car at high speed, ejecting the driver from his car before the speed record could be counted.
1935: Campbell-Railton Blue Bird - 484 km/h
Despite the dangers, improvements in automobile performance accelerated in the 1930s. This time the speed limits have increased to fantastic levels. It turned out that you can fly along the beaches at the speed of airplanes.
Sir Malcolm Campbell proved this in a Campbell-Railton Rolls-Royce BlueBird, clocking 301.13 mph (484.62 km/h) on the beach at Daytona Beach.
This car used a truly diesel 36.7-liter supercharged R V12 engine capable of producing 2,269 horses. Where are the Veyrons and Chirons!
Conventional internal combustion engines achieved fantastic speeds for that time, but they were soon to be replaced by new technologies. However, war again intervened in the hunt for the land speed record.
1964: Bluebird-Proteus CN7 - 648 km/h
July 1964 finally saw even more insane straight-line speed racing. Almost 650 km/h, this is no joke!
The record is officially written into history in golden letters by Sir Malcolm Campbell's son, Donald, who reached a speed of 403.14 mph (648.79 km/h) on a Bluebird-Proteus CN7 gas turbine engine. The race took place on the large Lake Eyre in South Australia, which most of the time is a dry salt flat.
The attempt opened the door to jet engines.
1970: The Blue Flame - 1001 km/h
1000 km/h passed!
The American racers were understandably annoyed by the long speed races. Speed records poured out as if from a cornucopia, but the Yankees had no place in them. To change the balance of power, Milwaukee-based Reaction Dynamics began developing its rocket car in 1965. The vehicle used a combination of highly purified peroxide fuel and liquefied natural gas compressed into helium gas.
A run in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah with Gary Gabelich at the wheel showed that the Blue Flame developers were absolutely on the right track. 1001 km/h in October 1970 was proof of this.
1983: Thrust 2 - 1019 km/h
The record stood for 13 years. Then came the "British Thrust 2" - this car was equipped with a single Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine from the English Electric Lightning fighter jet.
He was held to the record by Richard Noble in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, and in October 1983 they jointly reached 633.468 mph (1019.47 km/h).
Richard Noble decided to break his own record by leading a project that was finally faced with a task that had never been solved by anyone before - passing through the sound barrier.
This time the car was equipped with not one, but two jet engines - Rolls-Royce Spey turbines, borrowed from the British version of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter.
This was enough to charge the car with about 110,000 horsepower. The launch of the jet on wheels took place in October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Not surprisingly, Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green was put behind the wheel.
1997: Thrust SSC - 1227.93 km/h
“This is the loudest, highest sound I have ever heard.”, - said Green about approaching the sound barrier, “the car was pulled to the side (video) - due to the design of the wheels, which were staggered at the rear. It tended to drift to the left at speeds over 965 km/h. To keep it on a straight path, I had to turn the steering wheel as much as 90 degrees.”. 90 degrees, at a speed of 1000 km/h! Just unbelieveble.
2020: Bloodhound SSC - 1600 km/h ?
After the triumph of 1997, the noble Brit returns. The goal is great - to cross the 1600 km/h mark. The Bloodhound SSC is powered by a Rolls-Royce Eurojet EJ200 turbine, this time borrowed from the Eurofighter Typhoon.
