Bloodhound supersonic car project axed

[rebbonk]

[dutchman]

Bloodhound supersonic car project saved



A 1,000mph race car project has been saved after an entrepreneur stepped in to buy the business.

The Bloodhound supersonic vehicle - built with a jet engine bolted to a rocket - is all but finished.

Its future was in jeopardy amid a failure to secure investment which forced the firm financing it into administration.

But Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst has bought the project for an "undisclosed amount".

Mr Warhurst, the managing director of Barnsley engineering firm Melett, said it would have been "criminal" not to continue with the record attempt.

"There's a bit more sorting of the car to do, but nothing major, to get to that first step of testing it at high speed," he said.

"That's what made it such a shame, because they had got as far as they had. It just had to carry on."

Administrator Andrew Sheridan said: "Ian has a strong background in managing highly successful businesses in the automotive engineering sector and he will bring considerable expertise to bear in taking the project forward."

The Bristol-based team behind the Bloodhound project aims to beat the existing land speed world record of 763mph (1,228km/h).

It is due to attempt to reach a record-breaking speed in South Africa, where an 18km-long (11-mile), 1,500m-wide (4,921ft) track at Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape has been prepared.