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1:64 Scale & Smaller
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Topic starter
29/11/2025 12:00 pm
LLEDO LAND SPEED LEGENDS: Thrust 2.
Thrust 2, powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon 302 jet engine, was the culmination of nine years of work by Richard Noble which included the loss of Thrust 1 in an accident. At the Black Rock Desert in Nevada in October 1983, Richard Noble extended the Land Speed Record to 633.468 mph, a record that he broke himself as owner but this time, not driver, later in Thrust SSC by going supersonic. Thrust 2 held the Land Speed Record from 1983 to 1997.
Thrust 1 after accident.
All the Lledo models mentioned up to now are 1/100 scale.
29/11/2025 12:10 pm
Supersonic? Just this morning I was passed by a guy driving a GMC pickup who was trying to beat this record.
29/11/2025 1:57 pm
Please allow me to make a couple of historical corrections regarding LSR cars. It was Thrust 2 (not Sonic 2) that held the LSR from '83 to '97. Richard Noble was the driver. Only one car, the Thrust SSC, has exceeded the speed of sound. That car was owned by Richard Noble, but former fighter pilot Andy Green, not Noble, was the driver. It still holds the record today at 760.833 MPH.
Richard Noble started the Bloodhound LSR project, also driven by Andy Green. The goal was to go 1,000 MPH. The car originally featured a Jaguar V8 engine as an apu to power the rocket engine pump. That engine was eventually replaced by a Cosworth V8. The car also had a jet engine for sub-sonic speeds, and a rocket engine to go supersonic and beyond. However, technical difficulties and the extreme cost of the project caused it to change ownership hands numerous times. During a test run, Andy Green managed to reach 628 MPH. To raise development funds, the Bloodhound project sold a space on the vertical stabilizer to the general public for $20. That entitled the contributor to have their name permanently on the car. I sent them $20 so my name could be included on this potentially historic achievement.
Bloodhound used to have a website that enabled one to locate their name on the stabilizer. However, like much of the rest of the car, the website often experienced technical difficulties, and I never did locate my name. LOL!
Currently, the Bloodhound is sitting in a warehouse looking for funding to complete the car and attempt the 1,000 MPH LSR. Andy Green has stepped down as the driver.
Corgi makes the Bloodhound in 1:90 scale. That's wayyyyyyyy too small for what I collect, so I have not acquired one.
This post was modified 4 months ago 2 times by Marty Johnson
Topic starter
29/11/2025 3:35 pm
Interesting stuff Marty. Sonic 2 at the end was an editing error as this post is about Thrust 2. My next Lledo post was to be the Thrust SSC. You have covered the facts so well, I will just add the Lledo images.
Marty, Richard Noble, the creator, drove Thrust 2 to its Land Speed Record in 1983. Andy Green, whom I have met, drove the Thrust SSC to its 1997 record. He was a retired RAF pilot (Wing Commander)
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