Bloodhound goes bust...
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Brum
Posts: 847
Bloodhound goes bust...
Sad news...
Plans to build a British
jet-powered car to speed at more than 1,000mph through the desert have hit quicksand, after the company behind the Bloodhound project entered administration.
jet-powered car to speed at more than 1,000mph through the desert have hit quicksand, after the company behind the Bloodhound project entered administration.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: UK
Age: 46
Posts: 588
The Grauniad knows a lot about finance and budgets - from the, um, "tax management" side obviously...
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Brum
Posts: 847
It's all over...
News report...

News report...
A project to race a car at more than 1,000mph has been axed after it failed to secure a £25m cash injection.
The Bloodhound supersonic vehicle - built with a Rolls-Royce Eurofighter jet engine bolted to a rocket - is all but finished.
The Bristol-based team behind it was aiming to beat the existing land speed world record of 763mph (1,228km/h).
A test run in Newquay in 2017 saw the vehicle reach speeds of 200mph (320km/h).
Following the failure to secure the investment the firm financing the project has gone into administration."Since [then] we have worked tirelessly with the directors to identify a suitable individual or organisation who could take the project forward," joint administrator Andrew Sheridan said."Despite overwhelming public support, and engagement with a wide range of potential and credible investors, it has not been possible to secure a purchaser for the business and assets."We will now work with key stakeholders to return the third-party equipment and then sell the remaining assets of the company to maximise the return for creditors."(
The Bloodhound supersonic vehicle - built with a Rolls-Royce Eurofighter jet engine bolted to a rocket - is all but finished.
The Bristol-based team behind it was aiming to beat the existing land speed world record of 763mph (1,228km/h).
A test run in Newquay in 2017 saw the vehicle reach speeds of 200mph (320km/h).
Following the failure to secure the investment the firm financing the project has gone into administration."Since [then] we have worked tirelessly with the directors to identify a suitable individual or organisation who could take the project forward," joint administrator Andrew Sheridan said."Despite overwhelming public support, and engagement with a wide range of potential and credible investors, it has not been possible to secure a purchaser for the business and assets."We will now work with key stakeholders to return the third-party equipment and then sell the remaining assets of the company to maximise the return for creditors."(
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 13,728
I'm all for advances in technology to solve problems that need solving but I have to admit I was relieved that the previous record car and driver didn't end up as toast. With this project, I couldn't help asking myself - why? The speed limits are 50 mph on most roads and due to congestion and roadworks you're lucky if you reach 70 mph even on motorways...
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Age: 53
Posts: 1,504
It's a shame. I paid to have my sons names on it and we kept tabs on development. I began to have doubts it would ever run in anger a fair while ago as the project seemed to stretch on and on.
Still better a dead project than a dead Dead dog.
Still better a dead project than a dead Dead dog.
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: England
Posts: 308
I'm all for advances in technology to solve problems that need solving but I have to admit I was relieved that the previous record car and driver didn't end up as toast. With this project, I couldn't help asking myself - why? The speed limits are 50 mph on most roads and due to congestion and roadworks you're lucky if you reach 70 mph even on motorways...
Even though it has halted it may well have done this already.
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hertfordshire
Age: 56
Posts: 927
One R Nobel, I suspect. Of all of the projects he has been involved in, only two that I known of were successful, Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC. Both nearly failed due to running out of money and his arse was only saved on the first one, when an RAF engine tech totally repaired Thrust 2's engine with parts belonging to HMG after he crashed the car at Greenham Common in 1982. I did put money into both projects in 83 and 95, not on this one as I couldn't see how they were going to solve a major issue that stopped Thrust SSC from hitting its full design speed of 850MPH,
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 141
Why put all the eggs in one basket? Why have just the one, hugely expensive and risky venture?
How many extra science teachers could this level of expenditure pay for? How much new kit for school science labs? For that matter - how many repaired school science labs could it fund?
I guess fixing and equipping dilapidated school facilities isn't as sexy as gleaming things that go very fast and make lots of noise in so doing.