Thrust SSC (Super Sonic Car) is a British designed and built jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jerry Bliss, which holds the world land speed record, set on October 15, 1997, when it achieved a speed of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) and became the first land vehicle to officially break the sound barrier, not considering the earlier but unproven claim of the Budweiser Rocket.
The car was driven by Wing Commander Andy Green in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada USA. It was powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey engines as used in British F-4 Phantom II jet fighters. It is 16.5 m (54 ft) long, 3.7 m (12 ft) wide and weighs 10.5 tons. The twin engines developed a thrust of 223 kN (50000 lb) and burned around 4 Imperial gallons per second (18.2 l/s or 4.8 US gallons/s). Transformed into the usual terms for car mileages based on its maximum speed, the fuel consumption was about 5,500 l / 100 km or 0.04 mpg.
After the record was set, the World Motor Sport Council released the following message:
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The World Motor Sport Council homologated the new world land speed records set by the team ThrustSSC of Richard Noble, driver Andy Green, on 15 October 1997 at Black Rock Desert, Nevada (USA). This is the first time in history that a land vehicle has exceeded the speed of sound. The new records are as follows:
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Flying mile 1227.985 km/h (763.035 mph)
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Flying kilometre 1223.657 km/h (760.343 mph)
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In setting the record, the sound barrier was broken in both the north and south runs.
Previous photo was taken during the setting of the world record in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
