Ryan McQueen from Edmonton, Canada, might have raised a few eyebrows by naming his car “Insanity”. But from what we can see, it’s entirely justified.
Finished in red paint and with a nose resembling a Ferrari Enzo, it’s a fine looking thing. But what catches the eye first are the two Rolls-Royce jet engines sticking out of the back.
Insanity weighs 1,7 tonnes, runs at 14 000 pounds of thrust, and will burn through 400 litres of jet fuel within two minutes. The result? An estimated top speed of 650km/h.
And, according to McQueen, Insanity may be the world’s first twin-jet-powered supercar.
Dating back to 2004, the project began after McQueen attended a race in Edmonton, where he came across a jet-powered car.
“I went to my first drag race with jet cars and basically fell in love with them and thought ‘I’ve got to do this’,” he said in a radio interview.
With no real mechanical expertise, McQueen set about designing and building the car from the ground up, selling his Corvette to purchase a set of jet engines at a military auction.
“I didn’t have a lot of money or a lot of skill. I just learned as I went,” McQueen explained. “I taught myself to weld. I taught myself metal fabrication. Since then everything has been Google and Youtube.”
Twelve years and $90 000 (approximately R1.3-million) later, Insanity is almost complete. The only thing left is a safety inspection scheduled in the coming months. Despite this, the project has gained plenty of public attention, with Insanity set to make several appearances at air shows and drag races in 2017.
“I’m super excited,” said McQueen. “It’s taken 12 years to build, and then to jump in it and take it down the track, it’s going to be incredible.”
