Going hell for leather…and broke
One Lime Street, December 1997
Robert Liebman looks at how the ThrustSSC project became a world-beater despite phenomenal cost, thanks to the support of the Lloyd’s market.
In October, Richard Noble’s Thrust supersonic car did just that. It went supersonic and in doing so set a new land-speed record, enabling the vehicle’s driver, Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron leader Andy Green, to take the title of ‘fastest man on land’. Mr Noble himself had held the title for the previous 13 years, having travelled 633.46mph in ThrustSSC’s predecessor, Thrust 2.
Messrs Noble and Green have joined a long list of heroic figures - Arctic explorers, world walkers, balloonists, ocean canoeists and nonstop global aviators - adventurers who have succeeded in the face of adversity.
Despite its triumph, ThrustSSC has not yet reached the end of the road. From the start, ThrustSSC has been a complex all-or-nothing project and exceptionally expensive - rebuilding Thrust from scratch cost around £4 million before the expense of testing, transporting and fuelling the car. “We achieved every objective we set except funding,” says Mr Noble.
Construction
He took to the road again in 1992 following a chance meeting between himself and guided-weapons aerodynamicist Ron Ayres. A challenge to the British-held record from American Craig Breedlove meant that, if the UK was to retain the land-speed record, Mr Noble had to construct as quickly as possible a vehicle which, to ensure safety, could only be developed slowly over time.
ThrustSSC is no mere souped-up, or even super-souped-up, car. To handle 8,500 rpm, its wheels are solid aluminium, each weighing 160 kg. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey 205 engines, which normally propel Phantom jet fighters. “The power units are from a front-line jet fighter,” says Mr Noble, “but they had to accelerate considerably faster than usual.” The engines provide the car with thrust in excess of 20 tons, enabling it to travel from 0 to 600 mph in 16 seconds and to reach speeds in excess of 850 mph in 23 seconds.
Defence facilities in the UK, such as Boscombe Down and Farnborough, were used for tie-down and runway tests. Although several Thrust RAF staffers, including Mr Green, were on unpaid leave, some military-related costs were unavoidable. Simon Howell, of Lloyd’s brokers Cameron Richard and Smith Insurance Services Ltd (CRS), who was asked to arrange a variety of insurances for the project, says: “The UK Ministry of Defence required an assessment of the likely risk, and we as brokers required the same data.”
Aviation lawyer Tim Brymer was brought in to produce a risk-assessment report, which was the catalyst for the core coverage. Without the liability cover, the car would not have been allowed on the desert, nor on Farnborough’s historic runway. “Third-party bodily injury and property damage coverages were provided, along with cover for physical damage while the vehicle was not moving under its own power. Hull cover was essentially all risks, to include transportation by land, sea or air,” Mr Howell said.
Seeking insurance
Despite its jet fighter potency, Thrust had to stay firmly grounded. At speeds above 700mph, if the vehicle’s nose were to lift at all, the car would attract 40g of gravity and cartwheel. In an instant, car, driver and dream would be history. The Thrust team was nevertheless confident and, “armed with the Brymer report, we sought a substantial suite of liability protections”, says Mr Howell. ThrustSSC “was unique, perhaps as risky as things can get. It certainly took us into unknown territory”.
The company market, worried about reinsurance, was cool to this flightless bird that did not fit their book. Mr Howell noted: “It quickly became apparent that we needed someone entrepreneurial.” John Tilling, underwriter with Lloyd’s aviation syndicate 340, which is managed by Gravett & Tilling Syndicate Management Ltd, stepped into the breach. “He was immediately responsive, looking for ways to help rather than wondering if he could,” said Mr Howell. “He quickly grasped the exposures and arrived at an affordable price.”
Lloyd’s involvement
Mr Tilling observed: “Given a proper assessment of the exposures involved, the Lloyd’s market will entertain or consider most risks. We have always tried to meet the challenges and will continue to do so. It’s a factor of terms, price and conditions.”
Other Lloyd’s underwriters who played a significant role in the project were David Roberts, of Harvey Bowring syndicate 362, Bob Wallis, of Janson Green syndicate 683, and Chris Buckle, of Crowe Insurance syndicate 963. Mr Tilling was supported by the Dumas, Metcalf, Catlin, Holmes and Humm syndicates.
Andy Green’s personal accident cover was also underwritten in the Lloyd’s market, placed by Lloyd’s brokers Anthony Kidd Agencies Ltd and led by underwriter John van den Bosch at a syndicate managed by Cassidy Davis.
On the hard sub-surface of the Black Rock Desert, Thrust made its first supersonic pass on 13 October. Two days later, squadron leader Green clinched the record by completing two runs within the official Fédération Internationale Automobiliste one-hour limit. He clocked 763.035mph: Mach 1.02. The Thrust team went into the history books - and Richard Noble went in search of new funds to stave off bankruptcy.
If Mr Noble is down, he is far from out. He knows, and is making sure his many sponsors appreciate, that Thrust is an icon of huge value with an almost infinite lifespan”. A post-race auction of 400 lots of ThrustSSC equipment and memorabilia raised £50,000 last month. There is a Thrust CD-ROM and a Thrust t-shirt. Mr Noble is deliberately limiting public appearances, such as that at Lloyd’s, to increase the car’s rarity and, hence, commercial value. He expects all debts to be cleared by the end of 1997.
In short, Mr Noble is continuing to call on the shrewd business sense and communications skills he has displayed throughout. Mr Tilling recalls that, from the outset, “we were invited to see the car, and the team’s professionalism gave the underwriters every confidence. I don’t know about costings, but in terms of risk, it was such a very well-prepared, well-engineered, well-researched project that, although there was always an unknown factor, I think it was not as great a risk as some perceived.”
At Black Rock, Mr Noble maintained this high level of confidence “by providing daily information to us, via CRS, detailing what was happening and what he was anticipating. He met every one of his forecasts,” Mr Tilling added. Media exposure - the fuel propelling his sponsorship deals - was vital, but television had its risks: “If we failed,” said Mr Noble, “it would not be a sinking in the middle of the ocean, watched by no one. A disaster would happen in the full glare of live international television.”
A high price
In an extremely adroit move, the team set up a 1,000-page Internet Thrust web site, which, at its peak, attracted more than two million hits per day. Mr Noble used this site and the 5,000-member Mach 1 Supporters Club to request donations to quench the thirst of the heavy-lift Antonov jet freighter which transported the vehicle to the desert, first to Al Jafr in Jordan and then to Black Rock. (It required 250,000 gallons to fly to the desert.)
Mr Noble’s description of his vehicle could just as well be applied to the entire Thrust project: it was “difficult and at times marginally stable”. As intrepid explorers and the Lloyd’s market are already well aware, no complicated and adventurous engineering efforts will ever be cheap or easy or safe but then, if they were, no one would pay any attention.
Land-speed record breakers:
DATE |
CAR |
DRIVER |
LOCATION |
SPEED |
15 October 1997 |
ThrustSSC |
Andy Green |
Black Rock |
763.05 mph |
4 October 1983 |
Thrust 2 |
Richard Noble |
Black Rock |
633.46 mph |
15 November 1970 |
Spirit of America/ Sonic 1 |
Craig Breedlove |
Bonneville |
600.60 mph |
17 July 1964 |
Bluebird |
Donald Campbell |
Lake Eyre |
403.10 mph |
3 September 1935 |
Bluebird |
Sir Malcolm Campbell |
Bonneville |
301.13 mph |
29 March 1927 |
Sunbeam |
Henry Segrave |
Daytona |
203.79 mph |
21 July 1904 |
Gobron-Brillie |
Louis Rigolly |
Nice |
103.58 mph |
18 December 1898 |
Jeantaud |
Gaston Chasseloup-Laubat |
Acheres |
39.24 mph |
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