It is not often that you see a potential land speed record car in pieces. This is exactly what the Bloodhound SSC team did for this very informative video. All the parts that have been finished to date are displayed, and if you have an eye for engineering, it is simply marvellous to look at some of these parts, especially the machined ones.
If all goes to plan, the car will arrive later this year in South Africa where it will undergo its first record attempt. This won’t be the 1 000 mph (1 600 km/h) record attempt, but only an attempt to brake the sound barrier and Thrust SSC’s record of 1 228 km/h set in 1997.
Here are some further details of this astonishing car, as released by Bloodhound SSC:
The Bloodhound Supersonic Car kit contains over 3,500 components, many custom-made, including: a state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine – normally found in the Eurofighter Typhoon; a cluster of Nammo hybrid rockets – developed to power the next generation of space launchers; a 410 kW Supercharged Jaguar V8 – used to pump the oxidiser into the rocket; two unique Rolex instruments specially made for Bloodhound SSC; a titanium skinned upper chassis; a carbon fibre monocoque and canopy with 50 mm thick windscreen; plus 22 500 aerospace-grade rivets, each hand-fixed. Driver Andy Green and assembly instructions included.
One hundred and ten man-years have been invested in the design, build and manufacture of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car which is on track to challenge the Land Speed Record later this year in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa.
Bloodhound may be the world’s fastest racing car but going fast is not its main role; as the focal point of The Bloodhound Project, it is to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by showcasing these subjects in the most exciting way possible. Over 5 700 UK primary and secondary schools, and thousands more around the world, use Bloodhound materials in class in science clubs. Our aim is for every school child in the UK to enjoy at least one Bloodhound lesson or experience by the time the car reaches its ultimate Land Speed Record goal of 1 000 mph in 2016.
