Landracing Forum
Thrust-powered Land Speed information => Discussions on absolute land speed records => Topic started by: Bob Drury on August 02, 2014, 02:04:30 PM
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Just received the latest issue of Autoweek (Aug, 4th issue). It contains a quarter page add for the Breedlove/Fossett LSR vehicle lock stock and barrel.
This includes trucks, trailers, spare afterburners, everything you need to go 700+ mph.
Only thing missing is moolah. No price listed, the ad states "price on application".
Bob
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Is the project being marketed by a US business or the family? When it was first offered by a company here in the UK the price was something like offers over $2,000,000. Would be interesting to see if any buyers come forward, bearing in mind the target speeds for the ALSR has to be between 800 and 1000 mph.
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Project 100 Communications Ltd. Sounds like one of you Bloody Limies to me.
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From the Wikipedia entry for Steve Fossett:
Management and sponsorship of the majority of his projects was handled by UK based sports marketing agency Project 100 Communications Ltd for whom Fossett had first driven at Le Mans in 1992.
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MAKE NO MISTAKE BOYS AND GIRLS
PEGGY FOSSETT IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE CAR AND ITS ASSETS - SUCH AS THEY ARE ALL THESE YEARS LATER. THE PROJECT 100 GUY IS STUART, THE SAME GUY WHO HANDLED STEVE'S PR AND OTHER RECORD-SETTING BITS FOR YEARS. HIS LSR KNOWLEDGE IS MARGINAL. THE PRICE IS WAY TOO HIGH, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT CAR HAS SAT IDLE FOR SO LONG.
SURE, THE CAR COULD NAIL 800 WITHOUT TOO MUCH TROUBLE, BUT ITS FAST BECOMING A WHITE ELEPHANT.
WITH THOSE CLEVER KIDS HAMMERING AWAY JUST OUTSIDE BRISTOL, THE EVER-AMAZING ROSCO DARN NEAR DONE AND ED'S GROUNDED BIRD INCHING ALONG, THE FOSSETT LSR HOLDS LITTLE HOPE OF BEING ANYTHING MORE THAN THE CAR TO SET THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE WORLD'S LONGEST SKID MARK AND THE WORLDS FASTEST U-TURN.
HAVING BEEN PART OF BOTH FAILED ATTEMPTS TO EJECT THE BRITS OFF THE TOP OF THE SPEED MOUNTAIN NO ONE IS MORE ANNOYED WITH THE SITUATION THAN I
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Hi all
I'm glad the ad got noticed! And that the Fossett LSR project is being talked about.
The Fossett LSR project (the complete car and all of its associated support vehicles, spares, tools, etc) is for sale as a 'complete and nearly ready to run' project - our objective in placing an ad this week was, of course, to bring this to the attention of the larger USA / N. American racing community. And as Louise points out, at Project 100 we are organizing the sale on behalf of the Fossett Foundation. Anyone who wants to call me to discuss their interest and details of the project / total package / price is always welcome to do so - I'm happy to chat (and yes, I choose to live and work in the UK - but I come from Seabrook, Texas, in fact, and would be delighted to see an American / North American team take the record back).
As Louise helpfully points out, with a good team behind it the existing record could be broken handily by this car - hence its 2006-2007 working name 'Target 800 mph'. Yes, more recent projects are targeting higher speeds, but before anyone gets to 1000 mph, I would bet that someone will first set the official mark at 800 mph... and then 900 mph. I don't think Ed and his team at NAE would sniff at 800 mph, nor will AI5 and BSSC when they unleash their own cars in due course. Even with my marginal LSR knowledge, I think that it would be a cool and worthwhile thing to hold the absolute land speed record - whether that record lasts for 5 years, 5 months or 5 days.
STUART
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Right on, Bro................ :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :mrgreen: :cheers:
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You are quite right Stuart a American living in the most beautiful country in the world
How nice would it be to hold the outright land speed record even if only for a day
Like all the other great warriors in the past who have conquered the salt/desert 8-)
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So you don't think the NAE can even sniff at the record, huh! We'll see!!!
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You show 'em Ed!
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Ed- you "heard" Stuart differently than I did. I thought he said "I think Ed would be happy with an 800 MPH record".
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Stuart posted:
". . . I don't think Ed and his team at NAE would sniff at 800 mph, nor will AI5
and BSSC when they unleash their own cars in due course. "
I took this to mean that he (Stuart) doesn't think Ed or the others would "turn up their
noses at" (i.e., show contempt for) achieving an 800 mph record--possibly on the way
to even greater speeds/records.
I'm a little surprised there hasn't been a buyer yet for the Breedlove/Fossett car. I would
have thought that a wealthy businessman/adventurer type (Richard Branson, maybe?)
would at least have looked seriously into the possibility of setting a new land speed
record as owner or owner/driver.
I hate to see things sit idle after they've been built (yes, I know this car has gone
about 675 mph before being modified by the Fossett team). And I know it's not like
a new Prius, in which you just drive it off the sales lot and go as fast as you expected
to go. We all know that it's not easy setting a new land speed record in ANY class,
certainly including the thrust-powered one. And of course, money plays a HUGE role
(right, Ed?).
I wonder if there's some type of workable crowdfunding method that could attract donors
by offering a chance to be part of a select group of people who each have a possibility of
being chosen to drive the car at some relatively safe speed, after it sets a new land speed
record. For example, each $100 donated could be worth one "name slip" that is put into a big
hopper, for later random blind choosing. The more you donate, the more of your "name slips"
get added to the hopper.
I'm not suggesting that any donors be subject to extraordinary physical danger. But I believe
that many people would think it exciting to fantasize about, not to mention actually driving the
fastest car on earth at, say, 200 mph. I think I'd be willing to donate $100 for an admittedly
very slim chance at that. It would also be nice to know that I helped finance the project that
resulted in a new land speed record.
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Ed - I apologize if my 'Britishism' unintentionally raised your blood pressure! 29 years in the UK have obviously rubbed off - and caused me to forget the 'clear, crisp writing' which the Clear Creek Independent School District English Department tried to teach me. :-)
As per Jack / Tallguy, my meaning, indeed, was that any of the teams at NAE, AI5 and BSSC (or a new owner of the Breedlove / Fossett project for that matter) probably would be pleased to set the record at 800 mph as a milestone on the way to even greater speeds.
To the point re the Fossett car - the August ad in Autoweek plus the ongoing dialogue in this forum have already generated fresh interest from a number of serious groups (racers all). These discussions continue.
Of course all interested parties still are welcome to contact me to discuss the project in detail!
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Of course - there was Craig Breedlove's interview article in the latest Hot Rod. He had a few comments about the potential of the car.
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Don't worry Stuart, I was not offended. I just took it as a challenge. We've never posted a specific speed we expect to achieve. From the beginning, I stated that our Corporate Mission Statment is to "Break the existing world land speed record". An additional objective would be to become the first over 800 MPH. In our current configuration, with the existing power plant, the computer analysis says we will max out at 835 MPH. With some water/alcohol injection, we could potentially see 900 MPH. I believe, to achive 1000 MPH, we would have to augment the J-79 with booster rockets. Whether or not the airframe will support the beating it will take at supersonic speeds is another thing to think about as well. My feeling about claiming that we would go 1000 MPH puts us into a position of being called a failure if we can only reach say 950 MPH. You're right Stuart, I will be very happy to break the current record and even more delighted to reach a safe 800 MPH. Where we go from there is up to the Gods of Speed. See you at SEMA.
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Project 100 Communications Ltd. Sounds like one of you Bloody Limies to me.
:-D :cheers: :-D :cheers: :-D :cheers: :evil: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
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Hi All
Has the car been sold (does any one know) 8-)
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Thanks for asking - the entire Fossett Absolute Land Speed Record project (complete car, spares, tools, custom transporter, etc) is still for sale.
The August ad we ran in Autoweek along with other media mentions / word of mouth have all generated renewed interest. Since late summer we have been in discussions with at least three serious parties.
Hope this info helps!
- Stuart
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The car is now displayed in the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver. I don't know if it is on loan or if the car was donated to the museum.
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Why did Craig Breedlove sell the car?
What changes did Steve Fossett do to the car after he purchased it?
How much did Steve invest in it and what is it worth now?
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Of course - there was Craig Breedlove's interview article in the latest Hot Rod. He had a few comments about the potential of the car.
Here is that article: http://www.hotrod.com/news/craig-breedlove-americas-600-mph-man/
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Hi All. Has the car been sold (does any one know) 8-)
I spoke to a person who knows and he said the car was donated to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver, it is NOT for sale and will never race again.