The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned has another world record in a show of force for hydrogen power.
British driver Andy Green reached 653.909km/h in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1600 horsepower, setting the record for that vehicle category, according to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the governing body of motor sports.
The 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot rocketed across the crystalline crust at Utah's famous Bonneville Salt Flats in a 9.75m car engineered by British construction equipment manufacturer JCB.
The engines, adapted from those used in the company's heavy machinery, mix pressurised hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to create bursts of power.
"It's magic to be able to showcase this technology and to showcase how good the engineering is on the best racing surface in the world, Bonneville Salt Flats," Green told The Associated Press after the run.
To be clear, Tuesday's feat didn't come close to approaching the overall land-speed record, which Green set with jet power in 1997. That year, he climbed into the Thrust SSC, a black needle sandwiched between two large jet engines, and hit 1227.985km/h, breaking the sound barrier and achieving a feat no one has come close to matching.
In 2006, Green also set the land-speed record for a diesel-powered car - 563.4km/h - at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
He returned with the goal of beating that mark using hydrogen power, which he has called the "fuel of the future."
In targeting his diesel speed, Green easily topped the previous hydrogen combustion world record of 298.5km/h.
Green said the cockpit of the car he used was "probably a little hotter" than in the jet-powered vehicle from 1997, with temperatures routinely above 50C.
"But I have been training four months for that, both training in the gym and actually just getting used to it with hot baths," he said.
A remnant of a prehistoric lake bed, the Bonneville Salt Flats are about 160km west of Salt Lake City and sit atop a shallow aquifer that cools the tyres. The low-friction surface and dry desert air are conducive to speed.
"It looks like snow, and it behaves a bit like packed snow - it is surprisingly slippery," Green said.
Australian Associated Press
