TEAM LAUNCHES JET CAR FOR CABLE SHOW.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Looking for people to help build a jet car, TV's ``Monster Garage'' series brought in two Palmdale men who work on jet planes.

Joe Ruggless and Matt Swain, aerospace engineers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company-Palmdale, put their talents to work for the Discovery Channel show to turn a 2003 Toyota Celica into a jet car in less than a week.

The jet car produced by the ``Monster Garage'' team hit a top speed of 185 mph on a 6,000-foot-long airport runway, though Ruggless thinks it could approach 300 mph.

``It set a couple of records,'' Ruggless said. ``It was the fastest vehicle ever built on 'Monster Garage' and it was the fastest Toyota Celica.''

The show's producers had called Lockheed Martin looking for jet engine experts. Ruggless, who is managing the production of parts of the F-22 Raptor fighter and has built several race cars over the years, got in touch with the producers.

Ruggless suggested Swain, a materials engineer who has worked on a number of aircraft, including the SR-71 Blackbird. Swain was on vacation in Arizona when Ruggless called him and told him he had to be in Long Beach in three days.

Both men are TV reality-technology show veterans. Both had participated in TLC's ``Junkyard Wars'' in 2001 with co-worker Barry McGarraugh.

In that show, the trio won a competition against teams from the United Kingdom and Russia in building and racing a vehicle capable of traveling on land and water.

Swain was part of the jet car design team, which involved one day in the project.

Ruggless was part of the team actually building the jet car, which had five days to do the work. Other members of the building team included two noted jet car builders, Jerry Segal and Ralph Snider.

The driver was show star Jesse James, a custom motorcycle designer and founder of West Coast Choppers in Long Beach.

The construction of the jet car was filmed in November in Long Beach.

The team was given a brand new 2003 Toyota Celica. To power the car, a Rolls-Royce Viper MK22 jet engine, capable of generating 6,300 pounds of thrust, was acquired from a British military trainer jet.

The team removed the car's engine, dashboard and seats.

``It took us two and half hours to strip it down to the bone, nothing but steel,'' Ruggless said. ``We cut the car in half. It reminded me of a magic show where they cut the box in half.''

To accommodate the engine, 30 inches were added between the two halves of the car.

``It was the first Toyota Celica stretch limousine,'' Swain said.

The crew also built a roll bar around the driver's seat and installed parachute tubes for two drag chutes to slow the car.

Ruggless said the show accurately depicts some of the conflict between members of the building team. At one point, other team members were fighting Ruggless' request for a high-caliber tubing to be used for the safety cage.

That argument was ultimately won when James, the man taking the risks, sided with Ruggless.

At the end of the building phase, the team fired up the jet engine.

``They chained the car to a forklift and put another forklift in front of it so it didn't go flying across Long Beach Boulevard,'' Ruggless said.

Each time the team fired the engine's afterburner, the ground and neighboring buildings shook. As the team cut off the engine, sirens could be heard coming their way.

``A church had called up and said there had been an explosion,'' Swain said.

The two test runs of the car were filmed Dec. 18 at Rialto Airport. The team used the airport's 6,000-foot runway for the test runs.

``The first run was at 80 mph to give Jesse the feel of the car,'' Swain said.

Everything went fine until James tried to shut down the afterburner. A wire had broken loose and jammed in a valve, preventing him from shutting it down.

James was able to stop the car and the engine was eventually shut down, but not before causing a few anxious moments.

Repairs were made and a second run was made. This time, the car hit 185 mph.

After that run, James opted not to tempt fate by pushing the car any harder.

The car was capable of even higher speeds; Ruggless estimates it could have run close to 300 mph.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Lockheed Martin engineers Joe Ruggless, left, and Matt Swain put together a Toyota Celica with a jet engine for the Discovery Channel show ``Monster Garage.''

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer