We’re huge fans of Project Bloodhound, the British project aiming to smash the land speed record with a car that’s powered by both jet and rocket engines. Which is why we have been sad to see the team’s various deadlines for its attempt slip by as it has struggled with what it now acknowledges was a funding crisis.
Last year we were told that the team planned to travel to the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa to try to break the existing record this October, but then things went alarmingly quiet.
The good news is that, although the schedule has indeed slipped by another year, the team’s cash-flow issues have been resolved with the arrival of a new primary sponsor, Chinese automaker Geely. This ends Bloodhound’s former sponsorship deal with Jaguar, although we’re told that the British company remains one of the project’s technical partners and that one of its supercharged V-8 engines will still be used to drive the oxidizer pump for the Bloodhound’s rocket engines. (We’re guessing Geely’s new Volvo-developed three-cylinder wasn’t adjudged to be up to the task.) The deal means that Geely cars and trucks will be used in South Africa to support the record attempts?but also that the wider Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will supply design and engineering support. The Bloodhound project will then be used to promote science teaching across Asia.

Behind the Scenes with Bloodhound SSC?s Team, Chasing 1000 MPH
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