| Thrust SSC | |
|---|---|
 Thrust SSC at theCoventry Transport Museum, where it is part of the permanent collection. | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | SSC Programme Limited |
| Designer | Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher,Ron Ayers, Jeremy Bliss and Reece Liebenberg |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Land Speed Record vehicle |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | twoRolls-Royce Spey turbofan:- Rolls-Royce Spey 202 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 16.5 m (54 ft) |
| Width | 3.7 m (12 ft) |
| Kerb weight | 10.6 tonnes |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Thrust2 |
| Successor | Bloodhound LSR |
ThrustSSC,Thrust SSC orThrust SuperSonic Car is a Britishjet car developed byRichard Noble, Glynne Bowsher,Ron Ayers, and Jeremy Bliss.[1] Thrust SSC holds the worldland speed record, set on 15 October 1997, and piloted byAndy Green, when it achieved a speed of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) and it became the first and only land vehicle to officially break thesound barrier. It is developed in Coventry.
AlongsideThrust2, Thrust SSC was displayed in the "Spirit of Speed Gallery" of theCoventry Transport Museum in Coventry, England. As part of the Museum's redevelopment project both cars were relocated by specialist haulier to the new Biffa Award Land Speed Record Gallery which opened in 2015.[2]
The car is 16.50 m (54.1 ft) long and 3.7 m (12 ft) wide and has a curb weight of 10.6 tons. It had a reported thrust of 223 kN (approximately 50,000 pounds force) at some operating conditions.Jet engines are not designed to operate at peak airspeed while still inground effect; a proper estimate would need to take this into account.
The jet was driven byRoyal Air Force fighter pilotWing CommanderAndy Green in theBlack Rock Desert in theUS state ofNevada. It was powered by twoafterburningRolls-Royce Speyturbofan engines, as used in theBritish version of the F-4 Phantom II jet fighter. The twin engines developed a netthrust of 223 kN (50,000 lbf) at the measured record speed of 341 metres per second,[3] burning around 18 litres/second (4.0Imperial gallons/s or 4.8US gallons/s) of fuel. This was about 4,850 L/100 km (0.06 mpg‑imp; 0.05 mpg‑US).
After the record was set, theWorld Motor Sport Council released the following message:
In 1983 Richard Noble had broken the world land speed record with his earlier carThrust2, which reached a speed of 1,019 km/h (633 mph). The date of Andy Green's record came 50 years and one day afterChuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in Earth's atmosphere, with theBell X-1 research rocket plane on 14 October 1947.[4]
Both Thrust SSC and Thrust2 are displayed at theCoventry Transport Museum inCoventry, England. Visitors can ride a 4Dmotion simulator depicting a computer-generated animation of the record-breaking run from the perspective of Green.[5]
Several teams are competing to break the record, including theBloodhound LSR project, launched in 2008,[6] and previously theNorth American Eagle Project, from 2004 until the project's abandonment after a fatal crash in 2019.[7]
In June 2012, a television advertisement for theOrangeSan Diego mobile phone, containing anIntel processor, was broadcast on British television and featured a fast car incomputer-generated imagery. Richard Noble claimed that the car was a representation of Thrust SSC and thus these companies had used his intellectual property without permission, putting the future of theBloodhound LSR project in doubt. TheAdvertising Standards Authority rejected the Bloodhound team's complaint, claiming that intellectual property disputes were not in its remit. According to BBC News technology correspondentRory Cellan-Jones, Intel and Orange responded that their production team had researched different styles of "superfast vehicles" and developed their own Orange-branded landspeed car, and that the advertisement and phone were not connected to Noble or Bloodhound LSR.[8]
Media related toThrustSSC at Wikimedia Commons| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ThrustSSC 713.990 MPH, 1,149.055 Km/h set byAndy Green, on 25 September 1997. | FIA Outright World Land Speed Record holder (1 km) 760.343 MPH, 1,223.657 Km/h set byAndy Green, on 15 October 1997. | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by ThrustSSC 714.144 MPH, 1,149.303 Km/h set byAndy Green, on 25 September 1997. | FIA Outright World Land Speed Record holder (1 mile) 763.035 MPH, 1,227.985 Km/h set byAndy Green, on 15 October 1997. | Succeeded by Incumbent |
