Fancy a fair dinkum land speed record car? One of the most iconic Australian speed machines is going under the hammer, giving buyers the chance to own a vehicle capable of going from 0-620mph in 16sec.

The Aussie Invader III LSR jet is being sold after the closure of Gosford Classic Car Museum in New South Wales has resulted in a fire sale of vehicles in a $70m auction next month. The car was built and piloted by the Australian daredevil Roscoe McGlashan in 1997 to a speed of 638mph, taking the Australian land speed record. This was faster than the World Land Speed Record then held by Richard Noble at 633mph. However, to claim a new world record, two passes must be made in opposite directions within one hour. Bad weather prevented the team from achieving this goal. Noble subsequently reached 763mph in September 1997 with Thrust SSC, which still stands as the outright land speed record.

It features a SNECMA 9K-50 engine that boasts 18,000 lbs of thrust and 36,000bhp. The Invader rests on solid hand-forged L77 aluminium wheels that were designed to spin at 8,000rpm. The 600 litres of fuel are consumed at a rate of 10 litres per second.

McGlashan is currently working on a new record attempt with Aussie Invader 5R, which he hopes will break the 1,000mph barrier. He is in competition with the troubled British Bloodhound team led by Richard Noble. Late last year that project went into liquidation, although it has subsequently been rescued.

According to the auction, the Aussie Invader III is available to test drive, by appointment…