Plan your Visit

World-class collection in a World-class museum

ThrustSSC

Name: ThrustSSC
Year: 1997

ThrustSSC is a British-designed and built World Land Speed Record car.

ThrustSSC holds the current World Land Speed Record which was set on October 15, 1997, by accomplishing a speed of 763 mph. By doing so, the supersonic car became the first land vehicle to officially break the sound barrier.

Designed by Richard Noble, Jeremy Bliss, Ron Ayres and Glynne Bowsher, ThrustSSC was driven by the RAF fighter pilot Squadron Leader Andy Green in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, USA. It is 16.5 m (54 ft) long, 3.7 m (12 ft) wide and weighs 10.5 tons (10.7 t).

Noble was also the driving force behind the car's predecessor, Thrust 2 which broke the World Land Speed Record in 1983.

The car was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, as used in British F-4 Phantom II jet fighters. The twin engines developed a thrust of 223 kN (50,000 lbf) and burned around 18 litres of fuel per second.

Don't miss out on the latest from the Coventry Transport Museum

Home of Record Breakers

Coventry Transport Museum is home to the world's two fastest cars.

Marvel at these spectacular feats of British engineering.

Get up close to the two fastest cars in the world, Thrust SSC and Thrust 2.

Bring the curriculum to life!

Coventry Transport Museum's interactive exhibitions make the perfect venue for school visits in Coventry.

We offer a wide range of sessions for school groups, all 'Learning Outside The Classroom' quality assured.

We thoroughly believe there is no such thing as being too old for play!

Get involved in our ever-growing Family Programme around Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

We also have free to loan family activities which are available at the Box Office.