Thrilling story of thrust SSC, the only car in history to achieve supersonic speeds

In the world of speed and innovation, breaking the sound barrier is a feat reserved for only a select few. Surprisingly, one of these select few is not a plane or a rocket, but a car. Twenty-six years ago, on 15 October 1997, the Thrust SSC (Thrust SuperSonic Car) achieved the impossible by breaking the world speed barrier, reaching an incredible speed of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

The specially designed car, driven by British Royal Air Force pilot Andrew Green, made history with this remarkable achievement. In a YouTube video documenting the event, Green described the challenges he faced, including the car’s tendency to move around more at higher speeds and the need to accelerate without sucking up desert debris into the intakes.

As Green accelerated through the 80-90 mph mark, he encountered strong airflow into the engines, making the car a ‘massive handful, bordering on uncontrollable’, according to Guinness World Records.

The Guinness World Records further explained that the two sonic booms produced by the car during its run were so loud that they sent Green’s crew into cheers, despite Green being unable to hear them inside the vehicle.

The achievement was particularly significant as it occurred 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in a rocket plane, the Bell X-1.

Today, the Thrust SSC is on display at the Coventry Transport Museum in Coventry, England, where it serves as a testament to human ingenuity and the pursuit of speed. While the Thrust SSC remains the only car to have ever broken the sound barrier, it stands as a symbol of what is possible when innovation and determination collide.