Bloodhound LSR: From Being Nearly Scrapped To Potential 2020 Land Speed Record Holder

Published November 10, 2019
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4 min read

The supersonic beast is currently undergoing tests in South Africa and has already clocked in 501mph (806kmph)

If anyone mentions the phrase ‘land speed record’, only one car, or you’d say jet car would come to mind, the Thrust SSC, which has held the land speed record of 763mph (1,227kmph) since October 15, 1997. It was the first car to break the sound barrier with this top speed. Fast forward 20 years, the Bloodhound Project is all set to rewrite history with its Bloodhound LSR recently hitting 501mph (806kmph) while testing in South Africa. While it is still a far cry from the Thrust SSC, it ranks among the top 10 in terms of land speed record. However, the Bloodhound team is aiming to break the Thrust SSC record in 2020. On the face of it, Bloodhound seems to be on the right track, but the project has been through quite a rocky journey to get here.

Birth

The Bloodhound LSR, formerly named the Bloodhound SSC, was announced back in 2008 with the formation of the Bloodhound SSC Programme by former land speed record holder Richard Noble. In 1983, Noble hit 633mph (1,019kmph) in the Thrust2 to claim the land speed record at the time. Coincidentally, he is also the same person who spearheaded the Thrust SSC project. To break land speed records, you need to have the best pilots, and the Bloodhound SSC Programme announced Wing Commander and RAF pilot Andy Green. Oddly enough, he is the same pilot who was behind the wheel of the Thrust SSC to create the current land speed record.

To make the car as slippery as possible as well as keep it on the road, the College of Engineering at Swansea University was heavily involved in the aerodynamics of the Bloodhound. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) was one of the engineering highlights to develop the pencil-shaped nature of the car. Under the hood is a Rolls-Royce EJ200 gas turbine engine to produce a whopping claim of 54,000PS under full tilt. The top speed target? To hit the stratospheric 1000mph (1,609kmph) mark and shatter the current record held by the Thrust SSC.

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The testing of the Bloodhound SSC was well underway with runway testing of up to 200mph (320 kmph) carried out in October 2017 at Newquay, Cornwall. There were plans of the model being tested in South Africa, where a track 12 miles (19 km) long, 2 miles (3.2 km) wide had been cleared. In May 2018, the team had also announced a 610mph (981kmph) run for this year, and a 1,000 mph run in 2020. But the next sequence of events was something out of a nightmare for the Bloodhound team.

Its Near Extinction

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For a project well under its way to break the land speed record, what could halt its charge? Well, it was money in the end as by late 2018, the company had gone into administration due to a lack of funds to continue the project. It looked like the dead-end for the Bloodhound SSC, which had a 10-year long journey, as the car was all but ready to be scrapped for parts. However, lady luck decided to hand the team a well-needed lifeline and on December 17, 2018, Yorkshire engineer and businessman Ian Warhurst purchased the Bloodhound business and assets to keep the project alive.

A new company called Grafton LSR Ltd was formed during the transition and the Bloodhound SSC was renamed the Bloodhound LSR. The initial work behind the scenes focused on renegotiating contracts as well as rebranding the project with a new logo and design. Its headquarters was also moved from Avonmouth to Berkeley in Gloucestershire. And thus, the project rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

Preparing For D-day

In the end, it was something like a fairytale for the Bloodhound LSR — from a positive start and near scrappage to being revived and getting back to business. With the team continuing its tests for the jet car, the countdown is on for 2020 and the day when we could witness history being made -- reaching 1,000mph on land!