When regular engines won't cut it, there are cars with jet engines
These cars are built to go fast. Crazy fast.
A street-legal Beetle with a jet engine
Designed by mechanical engineer Ron Patrick, this street-legal Volkswagen Beetle has two engines: A stock one in the front, and a 1,350-horsepower helicopter turboshaft engine (General Electric Model T58-8F) that he converted into a jet.
This Beetle is hot as hell, literally
Here, you can see Ron Patrick's jet engine in action. Due to the damaging heat generated (exceeding 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit will, you know, 'cause problems), he's limited to three starts in a hour.
This blazing-fast "School Bus Jet"
Designed by Gerd Habermann, this "School Bus Jet" is built with a 25,000-horsepower Westinghouse J34 turbine.
A VW bus that goes from 0 to 270 mph in 7 seconds
How do you improve on a Volkswagen Bus? Try adding a 1986 Rolls-Royce Viper 535 jet engine, pulled from a decommissioned Strikemaster jet.
A jet-powered truck that can hit 375 mph
The Flash Fire Jet Truck seen here, powered by a 1,200- horsepower Pratt and Whitney engine, goes from 0 to 60 mph in a single second.
A 634-mph beast that broke a world record
Designed by John Ackroyd and driven by Richard Noble, the Thrust2 jet car held the title of Fastest Car In The World from 1983 to 1997.
This 1991 Toyota MR2 with twin-turbine jets
Built by ToyJunkies, this Toyota MR2 is powered by two GE T58 turbine engines. It has reached speeds of 187 mph, "with a lot more room to go," ToyJunkies explained.
From powering helicopters to powering a Toyota
The T58 engines used on this Toyota were designed for powering helicopters. Learn more about this incredible car and its specs at Roadkillcustoms.com.
The definition of Insanity
The Insanity, a custom car by Ryan McQueen, uses two Rolls-Royce jet engines to pour on the power.
Old-school cool
Not all jet cars are homebrews: This photo from 1954 shows off General Motors' experimental XP-21 Firebird, a gas turbine-powered car.
This famous, destroyed Vampire
Driven by Colin Fallows, the Vampire afterburner jet car once held the British Landspeed Record of 300.3 mph (average). It famously crashed during a 2006 shooting of the show Top Gear, where it hit (unverified) speeds of 314 mph.
This 2,100 horsepower jet semi
Bob Motz's "Semi Jet Truck" gives an epic flame-throwing live demo at a show in Detroit.
This turbo jet Mustang funny car
Nicknamed "Firestorm," this Ford Mustang funny car was built with a 10,000-horsepower General Electric J85-5 turbo jet pulled from a Northrop F5 Strike Fighter.
This 10,000-horsepower jet funny car
Driven by Martin Hill, the Fireforce 2 is a 10,000-horsepower, jet-propelled car that tops out at 270 mph.
This famous jet car wit big aspirations
No list of jet-powered cars would be complete without this, the Bloodhound SSC. The supersonic car, a private venture with in-kind support from the UK government, has been designed to break the land speed record of 760 mph.
This 1,000 mph beast is also a rocket car
Powered by a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine and a Falcon Hybrid Rocket Motor, the Bloodhound SSC is aiming for a speed of 1,000 mph when it races across a South African track lake bed track in October 2018.
CNET was trackside for the Bloodhound rocket car's first speed run.
This custom built jet car of the '60s
Bill Fredericks poses with his own jet car, the Valkyrie, in 1962.
Check out this jet-powered dragster in action
Wonder what it looks like when a jet-powered racer starts up its jet engine? YouTuber DTRockstar recorded a video of Black Ice, a jet-powered dragster, as it reaches 246 mph.
You can watch that video here.