First supersonic car

The first car to break the sound barrier was Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green (UK). On 15 October 1997, the jet-powered car achieved a two-way average speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph). This works out to Mach 1.02 after accounting for the atmospheric conditions at the test site in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA.

In several of the pictures of Andy Green's record-breaking run (which also set the land-speed record) there are clearly visible distortions extending outwards from the car. These distortions, called "Schlieren", are caused by supersonic shockwaves.