At Trackdays, we love fast cars - and they don't come much faster than rocket cars.
To honour those who have lit the blue touch paper in order to push the boundaries of automotive technology, we celebrate rocket cars in all their glory as Bonfire Night goes off with a bang.
Ready, Steady, Glow
Fast acceleration is par for the course on one of our driving experiences, but even we admit that our fleet of supercars, including Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis, might struggle to keep up with a rocket car.
As the name suggests, a rocket car is propelled by a rocket engine and, unsurprisingly, can be capable of very high speeds. At one time a rocket car held the land speed record, and it's still hoped that the British Bloodhound LSR, which has a jet engine and a rocket engine, will one day achieve up to 1,000 miles per hour. At that speed you could go from London to Napoli in Italy in about 60 minutes!
Blink And You'll Miss
Rocket cars were in their prime back in the 1920s, mainly thanks to Fritz von Opel. He was the co-founder of the world's first rocket program, and driving the Opel RAK2 in 1928 reached a record speed of 238 km/h.
Other rocket car pioneers include Sammy Miller, who was one of the fastest men in existence. Some 40 years ago at Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire, Sammy achieved the quickest quarter mile elapsed time of 3.58 seconds at 386.26mph. The weapon of choice was his car called Vanishing Point, powered by hydrogen peroxide.
Burning Rubber
Of course, there are others that deserve credit for the advancement of rocket technology. These include Romanian rocketry pioneer Alexandru Ciurcu, Max Valier from Austria and Friedrich Sander from Germany.
And while it didn't have an actual rocket, the 'Rocket' ultra-lightweight car was the fastest accelerating production car in the world when 'launched' in 1992. Whizz forward to the modern day and rocket cars are sparkling again. Tesla's second-generation Roadster will feature rocket technology, while a future Ferrari sportscar might come with a rocket thruster. The Prancing Horse will never have galloped so quickly!
All Systems Go
Rocket technology is also making the news. Reusable rockets are in the headlines, while others are developing ways to replace traditional vertical rocket launches with a rocket-powered sled system.
Fuel for Thought
Back on earth though, feeling the thrust of a rocket engine remains beyond the reach of most people. The best way to get that adrenaline rush is behind the wheel of a supercar.
With Trackdays you can strap yourself in and be launched in some of the fastest cars on the planet.
Our mind-blowing motors include those on our Supercar Driving Experiences from McLaren, Jaguar, BMW and Audi, and while Bonfire Night is celebrated once a year, these 'bangers' can be enjoyed throughout the year. So, ignite your passion for circuit driving and let us put an extra spark in your life!
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