1,000mph car project 'on track'

1,000mph car project 'on track'

Bloodhound model: Construction of the real supersonic car starts in the New Year

The British project to develop a 1,000mph car is on target to meet its goals, says director Richard Noble.Continue reading the main story

Construction will start on the rear of the Bloodhound vehicle in January, with an attempt on the World Land Speed record expected in 2012.

"We've got companies all over the world wanting to sponsor the car," Mr Noble told BBC News.

"We've actually got more people who want to financially back this thing than we've got space for them."

Mr Noble has made an appeal for people to help prepare the vehicle's race track.

This is a dried-up lake bed in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, known as Hakskeen Pan.

Before the Bloodhound car can hurtle across this flat expanse of land, it must be cleared of all loose stones.

A rock thrown up at 1,000mph has the potential to do serious damage to the car's thin alloy bodywork and even cripple its four solid aluminium wheels.