Australian crew launch 'faster-than-a-bullet' land speed record bid But it's all been a culmination to where we're at now, where we've nearly built, nearly completed the world's best, fastest land-speed car. Breaking the speed record is not all McGlashan has to contend with - Britain's Green is also gunning for the 1,000mph record with his hybrid Bloodhound SSC. "They've got a lot of support from their country, and (it's) a country that believes that the land-speed record belongs to them, it's part of their patriotism, the land-speed record's been in the UK for 1,000 years," McGlashan said. But we've got a lot more powerful car, a lot tighter-knit group of guys and we believe that we can go out and blitz them. If successful, McGlashan will travel faster than a bullet, going from 0-1,000mph in 20 seconds as he rips through three tonnes of rocket fuel. Like Austrian adventurer Felix Baumgartner who made headlines this week with a spectacular freefall jump from the edge of space, McGlashan believes it is important to push the boundaries of human knowledge and endurance. "A lot of people will say 'Oh that's great but how does that benefit mankind?'," McGlashan, 62, told AFP. But there's just so many spin-offs with it - the physics, the science, the technology that goes into developing something like this is a win-win for everyone. Two US teams are also plotting a land-speed attempt, including one headed by former record holder Craig Breedlove, but McGlashan said they have not set their sights on the ambitious 1,000mph target. The Aus$4 million (£2.6 million), 16-metre (53-foot) Invader 5R will be powered by a missile rocket fuelled with liquid oxygen and a kerosene-based biofuel. It will travel at three times the force of gravity and faster than the speed of sound. The car's weight - nine tonnes when fully fuelled - will help to keep it grounded, with a downward-tilted nose-cone and small adjustable wings or canards on either side of the front section designed to counter any lift. Reaching and maintaining such speeds requires highly specialised materials and technology; complicating matters is the fact that the feat must be achieved twice within a one-hour window two qualify for a record. This involves being able to slow and stop the car, refuel and go again within 60 minutes, with the record calculated as an average of the two attempts. McGlashan has missed the record before, in 1996, when he hit 643mph in the Invader III but was unable to complete a second pass due to poor weather. It is not without risks and McGlashan admits to being "terrified." The thing with a rocket is you flick the go switch and it can explode... Particularly with this car here you're sitting on a bomb. The team hopes to begin test runs of the streamlined, bullet-shaped car next year.