Faster than a speeding bullet –that's how fast RAF fighter pilot Wing Commander Andy Green will be travelling if he breaks his own land speed record in a car being built in Bristol.

The Bloodhound SSC supercar has been designed to go faster than 1,000mph when it tries for the record in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, in 2012.

That is faster than a bullet fired from a .357 Magnum or a Typhoon fighter aircraft.

Andy Green –who broke the land speed record in 1997 recording 763mph over a mile –will be at the wheel of the Bloodhound, which is still at the design stage.

He searched the world looking for a suitably large, flat, firm and dry surface on which the supercar could be run and found the perfect place, the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa.

He went to talk to the Northern Cape cabinet to get permission for the event and was "lost for words" when Premier Hazel Jenkins agreed as soon as he had finished speaking.

Now work is beginning on making the supercar on Bristol's Harbourside in the Maritime Heritage Centre, next to the ss Great Britain, in what has become known as the "doghouse". The car has already undergone 10 design changes to get the optimum shape for speed and stability.

The man responsible for the shape of the car –and its name –is Ron Ayres, 77, who began his career working for the Bristol Aeroplane Company, later to become Bristol Aircraft Corporation and finally BAE.

He said: "I was the chief aerodynamicist on the Bloodhound anti-aircraft missiles when I worked at Filton 40 years ago.

"When the project to build a car to beat the land speed record was being discussed in my dining room, we used the codename Bloodhound and the name stuck,"

Mr Ayres works side by side with design research assistant Ben Evans, 28, who developed computer models to test the best aerodynamic shape for the car.

The 'rocket man' in the team is Daniel Jubb, 25, who left school at 13 to set up his own rocket company, Falcon Project Limited, with his grandfather.

Described as a genius by other members of the team, he explained how the car will be powered by an EJ200 jet engine –usually seen in the Eurofighter Typhoon jet –and a hybrid rocket fuelled by hydrogen peroxide.

The jet engine will get the Bloodhound to 300mph and then the afterburner will kick in at the same time as the rocket, propelling the vehicle from 300mph to 1,000mph in 20 seconds.

Last month he led a team which successfully fired the first 45cm (18in) prototype rocket in the Mojave desert, USA. Mr Jubb –who has no educational qualifications to his name –said he was passionate about the main aim of the project, which is to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Bristol City Council has provided the headquarters for the project and offered space at the Create Centre for educational work.

Council leader Barbara Janke said: "This project is really exciting. It's creative, innovative, imaginative and I think it will inspire Bristolians. Most of all it will inspire a whole generation to become the scientists of the future."

Bristol's Lord Mayor Chris Davies wanted the project to be called the Bristol Bloodhound. He said: "I first saw the project six months ago. I didn't know at the time whether it would come to Bristol but I suggested to Steve West, the vice-chancellor of UWE, that if it did, we could call it the Bristol Bloodhound."

The public has taken the project to heart. Since October 2008, more than £137,000 has been generated by donations, merchandise sales and support from 1K Club members, who are invited to exclusive open days allowing them to see first-hand the progress of the project and meet the team.

Supporters can become part of the project and part of history by having their name on the tail fin of supercar.