The ultimate speed machines
18 October 2007 The world land speed record. Ten years ago this week, Andy Green piloted the astonishing Thrust SSC to break the sound barrier. The record still stands. Vijay Pattni takes a look at the key land speed record attempts. Deep in the The A plucky team of engineers headed up by Brit Richard Noble built the Thrust SSC – a ten-tonne jet-propelled car which shot to 763mph and blasted the British team into the history books. It’s the only car to have officially broken the sound barrier – a record which still stands. But how fast were earlier land speed attempts before the Thrust SSC stormed into the record books? Jeantaud Duc (1898) No run-down of the land speed record would be complete without Frenchman Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat’s contribution – who piloted an electric car to a heady 39.24mph in France to set the first ever speed record. Coachbuilder Charles Jeantaud built his first electric-carriage in 1881 and is responsible for building the very first car to set a land speed record – the Jeantaud Duc. La Jamais Contente (1899) This Michelin-tyred 200V electric car claimed the land speed record in 1899 – and was the first vehicle to set a speed of over 100km/h – recording 105.88km/h (65.79mph). Driver Camille Jenatzy – nicknamed ‘The Red Devil’ after the colour of his beard – was a Belgian race car driver. Jenatzy died in an unfortunate hunting incident. He hid behind a bush making animal noises – and was promptly shot by his friends, who mistook his calls. The Easter Egg (1902) The first steam-powered car to set a land speed record, the unusually-titled Gardner-Serpollet Oeuf de Pâques (Easter Egg) was powered by a design similar to modern piston engines – and recorded a speed of 75.06mph in France. Driver Leon Serpollet was a truly gifted all-rounder – he designed and produced his own cars until his death in 1907. Railton Mobil Special (1947) The three-tonne Railton Special used two W12-block Napier Lion aircraft engines to mark its place in history as the first vehicle to smash through the 400mph speed barrier on a single run. Cumulatively the car recorded a 1947 land speed record of 394.19mph, holding the title for 16 years before Craig Breedlove narrowly surpassed his speed in 1963. And behind the wheel of the 400mph monster was Englishman John Cobb – who served in World War 2 as an RAF pilot before his land speed attempt. Spirit of The Spirit of America was the first of the new breed of record-setting cars. It used a now-common jet propelled engine – a General Electric J47 engine used in the F-86 Sabre fighter jet – to rocket driver Craig Breedlove through the Bonneville Salt Flats in the And the American Breedlove didn’t stop there – he returned to Bonneville with the Spirit of America in October 1964 and claimed a different kind of record. He took the Spirit of America to a top speed of 526mph and held it for two weeks – but a parachute-brake failure ended in an extraordinary 200mph crash. Breedlove was uninjured – and his name entered the Guinness Book of World Records for setting the longest ever skid marks. Blue Flame (1970) The first – and only – rocket powered car which stormed into the land speed records. Its engine’s reported running time was 20 seconds – churning out an equivalent 58,000bhp, or 58 Bugatti Veyrons – and reached a speed of 622mph. American Gary Gabelich drove the amazing Blue Flame over the Bonneville Salt Flats in Thrust 2 (1983) Built and designed in During the run in the But Noble wasn’t satisfied with 633mph. 14 years later, he returned to the land speed record and became project director on his most important work to date – the Thrust SuperSonic Car. Thrust SSC (1997) Developing over 50,000lbs of thrust, the manic Thrust SuperSonic Car (SSC) is said to have the power of 145 Formula One cars, and is the only car to have broken the sound barrier. Wing Commander Andy Green is a thoroughbred adrenaline junkie. Aside from piloting some of the world’s fastest fighter jets, he was also behind the wheel of the JCB Dieselmax when, in August last year, he set the record for the world’s fastest diesel car – at a speed of 350.092mph. Auto Trader links Land speed record Auto Talk: Wing Commander Andy Green Fastest production car SSC Ultimate Aero TT 257mph confirmed Supercar stories British Riotous Range Rover Sport revealed German Crazy 205mph Bentley convertible - first pics Italian Is this the world's sexiest Ferrari? World’s most powerful Bugatti Veyron American Crazy 650bhp Ford Mustang revealed Electric car |
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