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The Vampire is a turbojet
Turbojet

Turbojets are the oldest kind of general purpose jet engines. Two engineers, Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s, although credit for the first turbojet is given to Whittle who submitted the first proposal and held a UK patent that...
-propelled car
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
 that currently holds the outright British land speed record
British land speed record

The British land speed record is the Land speed record achieved by a vehicle in the United Kingdom, as opposed to one on water or in the air. It is standardised as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions....
 of .

Vampire was 30 feet long and consumed from 7 to 10 UK gallons of fuel per mile. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Orpheus
Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus

The Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus was a single spool turbojet developed by Bristol Aero Engines for various light fighter/trainer applications such as the Folland Gnat and the Aeritalia G.91....
 turbojet engine
Turbojet

Turbojets are the oldest kind of general purpose jet engines. Two engineers, Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s, although credit for the first turbojet is given to Whittle who submitted the first proposal and held a UK patent that...
, it could accelerate from standstill to in six seconds, a personal best set at Santa Pod Raceway
Santa Pod Raceway

Santa Pod Raceway, in England, founded in 1966, is Europe's first permanent drag racing venue. It was built on a disused World War II American air base, RAF Podington, once used by the 92nd Bomber Group, which is in Bedfordshire, although the track has a Northamptonshire post code....
.

Vampire was originally constructed by Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge as one of a pair of identical match race jet dragsters in 1981.

It crashed in 2006 during shooting of a segment for the television show Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)

Top Gear is a BAFTA, multi-National Television Awards and International Emmy Award-winning BBC television series about motor vehicles, primarily automobile....
, severely injuring its driver Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond , nicknamed "Hamster" due to his size, is a British presenter of radio and television, best known for co-presenting the television programme Top Gear since 2002....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Vampire is a turbojet
Turbojet

Turbojets are the oldest kind of general purpose jet engines. Two engineers, Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s, although credit for the first turbojet is given to Whittle who submitted the first proposal and held a UK patent that...
-propelled car
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
 that currently holds the outright British land speed record
British land speed record

The British land speed record is the Land speed record achieved by a vehicle in the United Kingdom, as opposed to one on water or in the air. It is standardised as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions....
 of .

Vampire was 30 feet long and consumed from 7 to 10 UK gallons of fuel per mile. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Orpheus
Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus

The Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus was a single spool turbojet developed by Bristol Aero Engines for various light fighter/trainer applications such as the Folland Gnat and the Aeritalia G.91....
 turbojet engine
Turbojet

Turbojets are the oldest kind of general purpose jet engines. Two engineers, Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s, although credit for the first turbojet is given to Whittle who submitted the first proposal and held a UK patent that...
, it could accelerate from standstill to in six seconds, a personal best set at Santa Pod Raceway
Santa Pod Raceway

Santa Pod Raceway, in England, founded in 1966, is Europe's first permanent drag racing venue. It was built on a disused World War II American air base, RAF Podington, once used by the 92nd Bomber Group, which is in Bedfordshire, although the track has a Northamptonshire post code....
.

Vampire was originally constructed by Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge as one of a pair of identical match race jet dragsters in 1981.

It crashed in 2006 during shooting of a segment for the television show Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)

Top Gear is a BAFTA, multi-National Television Awards and International Emmy Award-winning BBC television series about motor vehicles, primarily automobile....
, severely injuring its driver Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond , nicknamed "Hamster" due to his size, is a British presenter of radio and television, best known for co-presenting the television programme Top Gear since 2002....
. Hammond did manage to beat the official British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 land speed record, recording a top speed of . However, he did not officially break the British record as, according to the rules, two runs in different directions and an independent observer are required, Hammond crashed
Richard Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond , nicknamed "Hamster" due to his size, is a British presenter of radio and television, best known for co-presenting the television programme Top Gear since 2002....
 on his third run.

In December of 2007, the damaged vehicle went up for sale on eBay UK.

See also

  • Jet dragster
    Jet dragster

    A Jet Dragster is a drag racing car propelled by a jet engine.In 2006, while filming an episode for the series Top Gear , presenter and driver Richard Hammond was critically injured in a crash with the jet dragster, Vampire , that he was piloting....


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