IT WILL be faster than a speeding bullet: a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket, roaring across a desert at more than 1,609kmh.

If all goes as planned, the 12m-long Bloodhound SSC will break the land speed record by the largest-ever margin, Times Online reported.

Building the car is expected to take three years - and the project team has a national reputation to uphold.

A scale model of the Bloodhound SSC - seen during its launch at the Science Museum in London

Said project leader Richard Noble, 62, whose turbojet-powered car named Thrust 2 hit 1,019kmh: "Brits have held the world land speed record for 25 years and we have to defend it."

Driving the Bloodhound will be pilot Andy Green, 46, who set the current speed record of 1,228kmh in 1997.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 24, 2008.

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