On 15 October 1997, Thrust SSC became the first car to break the sound barrier when it reached 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph; Mach 1.020) over 1 mi (1.6 km) in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA. The resultant sonic boom caused sprinkler covers to fall off in the town of Gerlach, around 10 mi (16 km) away.

Thrust SSC was piloted by Andy Green (UK), a wing commander in the RAF. The project director was Richard Noble (UK), who in 1983 had set the previous land-speed record of 1,020.406 km/h (634.051 mph) on board Thrust 2. The car is powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey 202 jet engines which generate 222 kN (50,000 lb) of thrust. Thrust SSC broke the sound barrier almost 50 years to the day after Captain “Chuck” Yeager (USA) made the first supersonic flight, on 14 October 1947.