Author Topic: Jet black steps up for New Zealand  (Read 5657 times)

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Offline ginge

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Jet black steps up for New Zealand
« on: October 17, 2011, 02:19:52 AM »

Offline ginge

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Re: Jet black steps up for New Zealand
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2011, 02:07:28 PM »


A New Zealand entrepreneur wants to build the fastest car in the world. But now the hard work starts - raising $30 million to make it roll.

Jetblack is the brainchild of Wellington residential property developer Richard Nowland and has the support of the government-owned Industrial Research, which says it is contributing expertise and staff time.

A fibreglass replica of the 13m black vehicle was unveiled at the Cloud in Auckland as part of the effort by NZ2011 to show off local design and technology.

The land speed record stands at 1227km/h and Nowland hopes to break it in the rocket-powered vehicle within five years. Its power will come from two California-built hybrid rockets similar to those used on Virgin Galactic's passenger spacecraft.

Nowland said he has long been fascinated by extreme speed and began work on the project several years ago.

"This is something of a hobby that became a full-time job. I guess this stands on the shoulders of John Britten and Sir Edmund Hillary - New Zealanders who have said it doesn't matter where I'm from, I can achieve something that's absolutely fantastic.

This is a dream and a challenge and I felt I wasn't going to be constrained by a lack of resources."

Asked where the money was coming from, Nowland said: "That's a good question. Raising the money will be a mix of our own revenue generation, sponsorship and investment."

Despite the difficult economy he was confident of raising between $25 million and $30 million to build the vehicle.

It was important to build the $120,000 replica to display to potential donors and investors.

Industrial Research says its contribution is in the range of tens of thousands of dollars.

Although the car would be a fuel-guzzler, Nowland said technology being developed could be used to enhance fuel efficiency in other vehicles.

The push would be to make it lighter, stronger and more aerodynamic.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10759820

Offline racefanwfo

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Re: Jet black steps up for New Zealand
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2011, 07:58:30 PM »
Looks like we have a new player in the race for the ultimate land speed record. If it takes him 5 years to get the car built who knows what the record will be at that time. I wish the guy luck in this endeavor.
The speed that you wish to achieve is only limited by the depth of your wallet.


Offline Paul.n

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Re: Jet black steps up for New Zealand
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2012, 06:17:39 PM »
Looks like we have a new player in the race for the ultimate land speed record. If it takes him 5 years to get the car built who knows what the record will be at that time. I wish the guy luck in this endeavor.

In my humble opinion, I really do think that in 5 years time the record will remain unbroken!  I say this due to the current World economic crisis and strong rumours of yet another recession (a double dip recession) being just around the corner.

Richard Nowland is a millionaire, I would think his shrude business acumen would prevent him from investing any more in the vehicle until things on the horizon improve a little. Funds are tight for everyone and although Bloodhound are throwing 13,000 sterling per day at their project, the sustainability of such large amounts could prove as difficult to achieve as designing the vehicle itself.

This makes for a level playing field so to speak, as it will allow Jet Black to catch up with the rest of us and maybe in 5 years time, we will all be ready for a showdown. Imagine That!