Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2007 | Page 32

life

INTERVIEW
by a Greek shipping magnate, John Goulandris, one of the
rich visionaries which punctuate this story. His dream is to
develop electric cars, and John becomes the Project Designer.
The delicious lines of the dinky Enfield 8000 and
the raunchy open plan Bikini were ahead of their
time and designs of which John is rightly proud.
John Ackroyd’s ability to turn his hand to any kind of design,
his courageous enthusiasm in embracing any task, anywhere,
and his meticulous attention to detail are his unbending
characteristics. The next chapters are a romp through the
ups and the considerable downs of seeking the land speed
record in a car designed and built on the Isle of Wight.
The story sees John responding to a press release:“Wanted 650mph car designer”. It was placed by Richard
Noble, now the land and waterspeed record legend but
then merely a man with a dream and good contacts.
Taking up the challenge – and designing the car in a
Fishbourne kitchen – John sees the agonies of testing,
hoping, failure and success of the Thrust project.
The seeming impossibility of the tasks is startling. “I still
had not seen the Bonneville Salt Flats where we hoped to
run the car, and our budget did not stretch to a visit that our
sponsors might consider a “jolly”. I could only imagine the
surface ‘grip and give’ of that vast dry lake bed….I would
just have to use intuition to estimate the surface consistency,
load bearing, cushioning, friction and tracking qualities.”
As well as being hampered by lack of funds, Richard and
John and the team are subject to the diktats of nature. John’s
fatalistic upbringing in India often resurfaces; he refers to
Mother Nature and the spirit of the land as forces as tangible to
success or otherwise as getting the mechanics right. Thrust’s
first attempt is flooded out, the suspension is bent when the
car hits a four-inch pit after an all-night session to reset the
engine, and still they are not defeated. But t hen it rains.
‘Bouncebackability’ is something John has in spades.
But it almost eludes the reader when, having seen him get
jobs which fall through lack of funds, strikes or cancelling

‘Wanted 650mph car designer.’ The ad was placed by Richard Noble, now the land and
waterspeed record legend but then merely a man with a dream. Taking up the challenge, John
goes through the agonies of testing, hoping, failure and success of the Thrust project

Photos:
P.32 - John Ackroyd
pictured today.
Bottom:CC7 first
hover, St Helens,
Duver Works 1967
P.33 - Top:Global
II is airbourne.
Bottom: Donald
Campbells restored
'Jetstar' shows a
turn of speed on
the Thames with
John and Mike
Horne aboard.

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