(ThrustSSC approaching completion)

As regular readers will know, completing a car as complex as this in record time is fraught with all kinds of unexpected challenges, be they financial or technical. With Richard Noble concentrating on the financial aspects to ensure that the money keeps flowing, James Morton, Jeremy Bliss and the G Force team have been able to concentrate their efforts on fixing the technical issues, not to mention chasing up all the many suppliers and sub-contractors providing key components on the critical path.

Most of the hydraulic system is now fitted, along with the plumbing and piping for the separate driver and car fire protection systems developed by Kidde. Wiring? - tons of the stuff in just about every area and leading in all directions. Despite the time pressures, every single wire has to be carefully installed, tested and labelled for ultimate connection to its intended device, be it an instrument or a control of some sort.

Talking of which, the all important pedals have now been fitted along with most elements of the steering. So now the steering wheel that has been in place for so long, actually has something to move! All of this will of course be completely hidden from view once the bodywork is refitted, and slowly but surely, that too is coming together. It was wonderful to see it trial fitted at the Motor Show and to get a real impession of what the finished article will look like, but not so good to have to take it all off again afterwards.

Of all the bodywork components, it is the carbon fibre nose and engine intake ducts so carefully crafted by Mike Horne that will make the biggest difference. In the last report by Richard Noble, he told you of the tons of caberboard needed just to make the patterns, but when you see the finished products you realise just why it took that amount of material and labour. The workmanship is so good that it will be a shame to paint it.

But all that's due to happen in the next few weeks. Until then the team will just have to control their impatience and get on with the job of finishing the thousand and one items still on their build list. There must be times when James Morton wondered if this was a car that would ever be completed, but completed it will be, so to get the inside story direct from James move on to his article entitled The Final Push.

Don't forget that if you are not a Mach 1 Club member and you want to see the team and the car, you can get tickets to a special exhibition at Beaulieu on April 20 21. Mail us now at thrust.news@battlement.digital.co.uk for details, or check out Issue 2's lead article.

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