Thrust Project

Wanted 650mph Car Designer cont...

To get the preliminary design under way I needed information. Richard gave me a Rolls Royce Avon engine manual which contained critical data - performance figures, fuel consumption, engine dimensions and mounting details. I knew the size of the driver, and the speed to achieve, so I had enough parameters to get me started on the design path. What I did not have was a job and an income to keep me going. I was in contact with an agent in Germany who had been trying to tempt me away from the beach life with a contract at Porsche near Stuttgart. So far I had stalled, but now with Winter looming, I took the opportunity. The family moved into an apartment in Leonberg on the outskirts of Stuttgart and settled down to work and school punctuated by weekends in the Alps or Black Forest.

Porsche don't just design fast cars, but have a design studio with a diverse range of projects. I was enrolled on Project SAVE - a modular ambulance concept which could be used as individual units or combined to create a field hospital in disaster areas. Work at Porsche on the multi-role ambulance was interesting, but my mind was full of Project Thrust. In the Porsche reference library was a fascinating collection of books including original pre World War Two hand-typed aerodynamic works with real photos inserted. One of the works included an analysis of the British record breakers Golden Arrow, Thunderbolt, Bluebird and the Napier Railton Special - with a few suggestions for aerodynamic improvements! The library absorbed my lunch breaks, and when my official day ended the 'moonlighting' began, as I ghosted out an outline drawing of Thrust 2 and implanted a skeletal space frame chassis inside. Richard was pressing Tube Investments (TI) in England to back the project and fabricate the frame, so I drew up a provisional proposal and sent it to them.

While I was beavering away in Germany Richard was pulling out all the stops in England. He persuaded everyone from his employer, GKN, to the Daily Express to contribute to a stand at the Motorfair in Earls Court. On the stand he had twenty-five feet of Avon jet engine, backed up by a morbidly dramatic American film of the Land Speed story. The show launched Project Thrust on to the national scene and got the ball irretrievably rolling.

I flew to England for a technical meeting with Tube Investment to discuss the chassis frame. The man who would make the structure was Ken Sprayson, a highly practical man with lots of experience on racing motorcycle chassis. We discussed the Thrust chassis at some length. Ken was keen to make the frame and I knew he would do a beautiful job. All we needed was the go ahead from his bosses. We had lunch in the Directors' canteen with Noble and the TI top brass, and by the tone of the talk I knew they were hooked.

Nicely timed for the end of the ski season I received a message from Richard – Loctite had put in £5,000 sponsorship and TI would make the frame. I knew £5,000 would not last long, but it was now or never, make or break, for Project Thrust.

I handed in my notice.