On the brink of bankruptcy just a few short months ago, the resurrection of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car project is now in full swing. After being salvaged from the scrapheap of highly promising but highly ambitious vehicular endeavors, the record-seeking vehicle has been moved into a new research center with efforts to bring it up to speed now continuing apace.
The Bloodhound Supersonic Car project first reared its head in 2008 and made no secret of its lofty ambitions. The team was setting out to smash the world land speed record and cross the 1,000-mph (1,600-km/h) threshold on its way into the history books, but after toiling away for 11 years finally pulled the pin last December citing a lack of funds.
But then Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst swooped in to save the day, purchasing the entire business and its assets for an undisclosed sum. Last week, this relaunch was marked by a relocation of the project to what is called the UK Land Speed Record Centre, a 975-sq m (10,500-sq ft) facility at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College in Gloucestershire, England.
There the team will continue working to develop the high-speed vehicle, which is powered by a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine that produces thrust equal to 360 family cars. The most recent public test runs saw the vehicle hit speeds of 210 mph (337 km/h) at Cornwall Airport Newquay, and the team says they are now moving onto high speed testing "as soon as possible."
The car has also been renamed as the Bloodhound Land Speed Record (LSR) and received a new red and white paint job as part of the rebranding.
"Since buying Bloodhound from the administrators last December, the team and I have been overwhelmed by the passion and enthusiasm the public have shown for the project," Grafton LSR Ltd CEO Ian Warhurst said. "Over the last decade, an incredible amount of hard graft has been invested in the project and it would be a tragedy to see it go to waste. Starting with a clean slate, it's my ambition to let Bloodhound off the leash see just how fast this car can go. I've been reviewing the project and I'm confident there is a commercial business proposition to support it. I'll provide robust financing to ensure there is cashflow to hit the high-speed testing deadlines we set ourselves."
Source: Bloodhound LSR
