Skip to main content

Late for school?

An American man has built a jet powered school bus capable of maximum speeds of 587km/h. Explaining that as a school child he found his daily trips in a slow moving school bus frustrating, the man used a surplus engine from a supersonic F4 Phantom jet and a secondhand school bus as the basis for his project.
February 22, 2012 Read time: 1 min
An American man has built a jet powered school bus capable of maximum speeds of 587km/h. Explaining that as a school child he found his daily trips in a slow moving school bus frustrating, the man used a surplus engine from a supersonic F4 Phantom jet and a secondhand school bus as the basis for his project. Custom-built, the turbine powered bus now features few standard components from the original school bus. The man said that he and his associates built the bus to entertain the crowds at drag strip events as well as to deter children from experimenting with drugs and he uses the slogan; "Jets are hot, drugs are not". With its engine on full afterburner the bus is capable of shooting flames over 24m long from its tailpipe, which would certainly deter persistent tailgaters. Fuel economy is somewhat on the low side however, with the bus using 568litres of aviation fuel for each 400m drag strip speed run.

Related Content

  • The Howling
    April 16, 2012
    An American man has found a rather eye-catching way to increase the top speed of his 1967 Chevrolet Impala. The car has been modi ed with the addition of a gas turbine originally designed for use in a cruise missile. This engine is bolted onto the car's roof with additional security provided by sections of rope, one of which is wedged in the bonnet and another in a rear door. His car can now reach claimed speeds of up to 500km/h, shoot 9m long - ames from its tailpipe and has the added safety bene t of dete
  • Traffic jam
    July 5, 2019
    Our Skidmarks page is highly rated by readers. Your input could help make this page even more entertaining. If you come across any amusing road-related stories or pictures email me at [email protected] TRAFFIC JAM Police in the South African city of Port Elizabeth recently spotted a vehicle they suspected of being overloaded. The minibus was escorted to a police compound, where the occupants were made to get out of the vehicle. In all, the Toyota HiAce bus had been carrying 48 people, most of them childr
  • Driving to dinner
    February 21, 2012
    A British man has set a speed record for the world's fastest item of furniture by driving a dinner table at 182km/h. The table comfortably beat the previous record of 147km/h set by a sofa in 2007. At its peak on one run the table hit 208km/h along the 500m drag strip although the vehicle's driver and builder said he felt he was travelling somewhat faster
  • VW to offer fuel sipping city car
    March 5, 2012
    The Volkswagen group has now committed itself to putting its innovative XL1 vehicle into series production.