Rolex brings a touch of style to Bloodhound SSC
Two high performance analogue instruments have been installed into the Bloodhound supersonic car – one for speed (reading up to 1,100mph) and one for time.
The analogue speedometer and chronograph sit either side of the custom made, 3D printed titanium steering wheel.
Developed exclusively for Bloodhound by luxury watch maker Rolex, both are GPS-based, for accuracy, and have their own battery system.
This means that even if the rest of the electronics fail, they'll keep on ticking.
The components, with characteristic Rolex analogue dials, will provide a necessary visual reference and fail safe back up for some of the on-screen readouts during the two critical phases in the record bid: assisting precision braking from 1,000mph on the 20km track and for timekeeping during the turnaround in between the two mandatory record runs.
"We were looking to have independent and reliable devices to measure speed and time during the record attempt," said driver Andy Green, who's seeking to raise his own land speed record to 1,000mph in Bloodhound SSC in 2016."
He continued: "These high precision instruments will not only give me a visual reference of the speed, both in acceleration and most importantly on braking, but also help during the precise turnaround the car will have to go through in a limited time."
Bloodhound SSC is scheduled to test in South Africa next year before the world land speed record attempt in 2016.
