This makes me proud to be British...

[English assassin]

but only in a way that implies no offence to other nationalities.

Ladies and gentlemen, the year's most awesome news story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...d-speed-record

British engineers have unveiled plans for the world's first 1,000mph car, a muscular streak of gunmetal and orange designed not to break the world land speed record but to shatter it.

Bloodhound SSC, named after the British cold war supersonic air defence missiles, will attempt to beat the existing record by more than 250mph

Absolutely first class. British boffins doing what they do best, ie, toiling away in sheds and inventing mad things.

Everything about this story pushes my buttons. Whoever first decided to build a car with not only a jet engine from a Typhoon fighter, but also with a rocket strapped on for good measure, deserves a Nobel prize. And you have to love Wing Commander Andy Green (clearly a few cans short of a six pack, but I salute him) describing doing 1000 mph while strapped right in front of a jet engine as "acoustically quite challenging".

[InsaneApache]

I bet they keep Richard, the hamster, Hammond away from it.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Cool. The world can never have enough eccentric British inventors.


As for the car itself...well, these speed monsters are basically jet fighters that htey somehow manage to keep glued to the earth. Fun, but not all that practical.

[Gregoshi]

If only it was a 1000 miles per gallon vehicle...

[LittleGrizzly]

Heard this on the news the other day, the 1,000 MPH figure impressed me!

1,000 miles to the gallon car would be better, especially if it actually looked good...

[English assassin]

If only it was a 1000 miles per gallon vehicle...

Have you considered a bicycle?

Listen up. This is the future that we are living in right now, isn't it? And not only are we not holidaying on Mars, there are NO, I repeat, NO rocket powered personal transportation devices of any sort. And don't even mention hoverbikes with gigawatt UV lasers to me. I get to work on a machine with two wheels and internal combustion engine, for heavens sake. Its not even a turbine. I might as well paint my backside blue and ride a chariot.

Quite simply, the scientific world has not been trying hard enough.

At long last, someone is doing something about this, and what happens? Kvetching. You can't demoralise these boffins you know. They are very sensitive. If they think we don't want their car they will go off and invent something else like a solar powered cardigan or an atomic teapot.

[Husar]

As for the car itself...well, these speed monsters are basically jet fighters that htey somehow manage to keep glued to the earth. Fun, but not all that practical.

My thoughts exactly.


Except I would write 'they'.

[Gregoshi]

At long last, someone is doing something about this, and what happens? Kvetching. You can't demoralise these boffins you know. They are very sensitive. If they think we don't want their car they will go off and invent something else like a solar powered cardigan or an atomic teapot.

Okay, sorry. But 1000mph car in traffic would be even more impressive...

[spmetla]

Good on ya brits!

[Incongruous]

Will it be on Top Gear?

[InsaneApache]

Will it be on Top Gear?

I bet they keep Richard, the hamster, Hammond away from it.

Let's hope so.