Potentially the fastest piston engine in history has been created in Oxfordshire as part of a project to build a car capable of 1,000mph.

The Bloodhound vehicle, which has just been unveiled, will feature a 4.2-litre V12 engine from Leafield-based MCT, alongside a jet engine from a Typhoon Eurofighter and a solid-fuel rocket.

The west Oxfordshire motorsport company's powerplant, which will produce 800 horsepower and 27,000lbs of thrust, will be used to deliver a tonne of hydrogen peroxide propellent to the 18-inch rocket in just 17 seconds. It will also power the electronic and hydraulic systems within the 12.8m-long, 6.4-tonne vehicle. If the car reaches its Mach 1.4, 1,000mph target, faster than a bullet fired from a handgun, the motor will become the fastest piston engine ever made.

Charlie Bamber, MCT's managing director, said: "We provide half the power output for the project in the form of a V12, 4.2-litre, normally aspirated engine.

"You could call it the ultimate hybrid. It's coupled to a solid-fuel rocket and pumps hydrogen peroxide to it, delivering 27,000lbs of thrust. It's quite a machine."

MCT employs 50 people at Leafield Technical Centre and supplies engines for the road-going Caparo T1 supercar and the Superleague Formula, a race series featuring teams entered by European football clubs like AC Milan and Porto.

Mr Bamber, who lives in Ascott-under-Wychwood, confirmed just four engineers had been working on the Bloodhound project, and added: "We've been testing the engine for three months.

"It's performing as it should, although it pumps a little more hydrogen peroxide than we thought.

"The next stage is to go out later this year and test it in the Mojave desert (in California).

"I don't think anybody is confident of achieving 1,000mph, but everybody has a belief that it is possible."

It is hoped the car will take on the 1,000mph challenge in 2011.

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