How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

Blink and you’ll miss these speed

machines, but what high-octane

engineering is under the hood?

In 1906, on the packed sands of Ormond Beach

in Florida, USA, mankind’s obsession with

speed shifted into an entirely new gear.

Powered by kerosene-burning steam engines,

the world’s fi

rst racecars broke the

160-kilometre (100-mile)-per-hour mark,

igniting a race for the record books – one that

roars on today. In 2014, the Bloodhound SSC

hopes to speed past the 1,600-kilometre

(1,000-mile)-per-hour barrier, smashing the

current land-speed record by nearly 400

kilometres (250 miles) per hour and reaching a

velocit y that could outrun a Magnum.

bullet. The quest to build the world’s fastest

vehicles on land, air and sea is equal parts

physics, robust materials and, to a certain

extent, abject lunacy. Hundreds have lost their

lives piloting home-made rocket boats and

blasting experimental aircraft to the edge of

space. But as long as there’s a new milestone to

reach – speed of sound, Mach 20, perhaps even

the speed of light – our brightest scientifi

c

minds and wildest daredevils will

be willing to take on the challenge.

WORLD’S

VEHICLES

F1 engine

Custom-built by Cosworth,

this 559kW (750hp) engine

will pump 800 litres of

high-test peroxide oxidiser

to the hybrid rocket.

FASTEST VEHICLES