The jet-powered Bloodhound SSC will make its 1,000 MPH world record attempt in 2016. And when driver Andy Green evacuates his bladder while blowing beyond Mach 1, if he's lucky, he won't be looking at these gorgeous gauges from Rolex. If he is, there's a good chance he's going to die.
To hit 1,000 mph – that's 239 mph past supersonic – Andy Green will be sharing this carbon fiber tube with the Grim Reaper, three engines and lots and lots of fuel. So much that the Bloodhound SSC is basically using one of those engines – a 750 hp Cosworth V8 – as a fuel pump.
To light things off the SSC starts with one rocket engine burning a hybrid of solid fuel and hydrogen peroxide. That's followed by another jet engine borrowed from a Typhoon fighter plane to slingshot the SSC into the millennia.
That's a lot of, uh, stuff to keep tabs on. And if part of the electronics go, the digital displays could go with them. So rather than forcing Green to check his G-Shock and pull out a slide rule, Rolex has made two independently-powered, analog gauges: a chronograph and a speedometer.
Chances of Rolex making a tribute watch if Green survives are pretty good. Chances of owning one before Jay-Z does, not so much.