A ROCKET powered car which will attempt to smash the world land speed record is coming to Derby to help the city celebrate its engineering and manufacturing prowess.
The Bloodhound SSC (supersonic car) promises to be the star of the show when it makes an appearance at the Derby Mini Maker Faire, which is being held at the Silk Mill next month.
It is the third time that the event, which will take place on October 25 and 26, has been held to showcase the city's growing maker movement, with participants demonstrating their electronic, engineering, robotic and craft projects.
One of the event's main supporters is Rolls-Royce, which is playing a major role in the development of Bloodhound.
It is part of the consortium which built the car's EJ200 jet engine – which is normally found in the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Rolls-Royce also hosted a high speed spin test, which saw one of the car's four wheels achieve 10,429 revolutions a minute at the company's aero engine test bed in Sinfin in June.
Tony Butler, executive director of Derby Museums Trust, said: "We are all extremely excited that Rolls-Royce and the Bloodhound team have kindly agreed to bring the car to the Derby Mini Maker Faire.
"The event brings people together to celebrate and encourage creativity, ingenuity and engineering talent, qualities which embody both Bloodhound and the city of Derby, which, as our museum collection reminds us, has played such a huge part in the UK's engineering and manufacturing story over the years.
Gill Fennell, community investment manager at Rolls-Royce, said: "Derby has a strong history in engineering and manufacturing and the Bloodhound project plays an important role in raising interest in science, technology, engineering and maths among young people, enabling them to pursue careers in the industry."
Next year, Bloodhound will undergo low speed testing – albeit at 200mph – in Cornwall, before it flies out to the Hakskeen Pan, in the far north west of the South Africa, for the world record bid itself.
For more details on Derby Mini Maker Faire visit www.makerfairederby.com
