We’ve been following the fortunes of the Bloodhound SSC, the rocket-powered car that was supposed to hit South Africa to break the land-speed record, almost from the very start. We thought that all was lost when the project was delayed, then delayed some more, and then ran out of money in 2018. But it’s back. Bloodhound SSC has become Bloodhound LSR (which stands for ‘Land Speed Record’) and has picked up a new sponsor: Ian Melett.
Ian Melett is the former owner and MD of a company called Melett (funny that), which makes turbochargers and related tech. Having Melett at the helm means that Bloodhound LSR’s base of operation has moved from Bristol, England to SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (also England). Besides that, not much has changed.
Preparing for ignition
Most of the vehicle’s team seems to have made the transition to new ownership. RAF Wing Commander and fighter pilot Andy Green is still going to be in the driver’s seat, which makes sense. He’s done this sort of thing before. The biggest new thing for Bloodhound LSR? The paint job. And maybe the name. And possibly the aims for the project, in a non-intrusive way.
Melett said “Starting with a clean slate, it’s my ambition to let Bloodhound off the leash and 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.”
We were excited about Bloodhound’s world-record attempt mostly because it was set to take place in Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape. But now… we want to see what Melett intends to do with this world-record run. If commercial-grade tech comes out of this venture, we really want to be the first to see what it is.
Source: Ars Technica