Hybrid 'Jet Car' Sets Out to Break Land Speed Record at 1,000 MPH

A group in Britain is seeking to break the land speed record with a car described as a "hybrid rocket" and a "jet car." They hope to get the car to a point where it will reach 1,000 mph.

The Bloodhound Project announced it would begin testing of its 14-foot, nearly 1,000-pound car with 80,000 horsepower this week. The tests will evaluate the rocket system of the car, which includes a Cosworth CA2010 F1 engine, High Test Peroxide oxidizer tank, custom designed gearbox and software and Falcon Hybrid Rocket.

The sound levels of the test that will take place in the U.K. on Oct. 3 are expected to exceed that of a Boeing 747, according to the group's announcement. It states that the system is "still at a very early stage in its development and the test is not without risk." The team of engineers will be looking to see if the system performs as they expect; how it will hold up under the force; and will it produce the expected amount of power.

The announcement points out that the last time a rocket in this early of a stage was tested was during the Apollo program.

If the car does eventually hit the 1,000 mph mark at some point it its development it will break the 1997 record of 763 mph set by the Thrust Supersonic car, according to the UK's Daily Telegraph.

Watch this ITN News report of the endeavor:

The Daily Telegraph reports the Bloodhound project being one that is "much bigger than just another land speed record." Wing Commander Andy Green from the Royal Air Force said the program is meant to interest young people in science and technology. Here's more from the Telegraph and its interview with Green regarding the program:

"All of the technology we have to develop, it's not commercially sensitive, it's not militarily sensitive, there's no competition because there are no other Bloodhounds in the world.

"We can share all of it, and that gives us the ability to reach out to a generation of young people to give them something iconic, exciting and simple - like driving in a straight line - and look at the science, the technology, the maths, the environmental science.

"The whole project lends itself to the world's most exciting science and technology lessons. That is the legacy for Bloodhound."