It seems both the cars I mentioned are the same engine different bodies.
John Dodd's Hand-built Rolls-Royce Merlin Aircraft Engined Car.
The engine is the same as installed in many fighter and bomber aircraft in the Second World War, such as the Spitfire and Lancaster. etc. This one was originally fitted in a Boulton-Paul trainer, is of 27 litres capacity and was rated at over 1.000 horse-power.
In the 1960s, Paul Jameson put a Merlin engine (some say it actually was a Rover-built Rolls-Royce Meteor, which was a de-tuned Merlin without superchargers and with steel components replacing some aluminium ones) into a chassis he had built himself. He did not get around to building a body, and sold the car to Epsom automatic transmission specialist John Dodd, who fitted a fibreglass body based on the shape of the Ford Capri and named the machine "The Beast". Originally it had a grille from a Rolls-Royce, but after complaints from R-R themselves he had to change it. According to Dodd's account, he once drove past a Porsche driver on the autobahn who then called Rolls Royce asking about their "new model". The Beast was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most powerful road car. The engine came from a Boulton Paul Balliol training aircraft which would give 1,262 hp (941 kW) at 8,500 feet (2,600 m). No supercharger was fitted to the engine in car so it "only" delivered about 850 hp (630 kW). The car used a General Motors TH400 automatic transmission. The Beast is alive and well in Marbella, Spain and is still owned by Dodd. It is still taxed in the UK; a DVLA search shows the engine capacity as 27000cc.
It is said that the drivers and passengers in many high-powered sports cars have witnessed the rear end of this "station wagon" or estate car disappearing in the the distance in front of them. John uses it for fun as it does about 1 km per litre of fuel, and the noise is "marginally legal", but is is registered for the road albeit still with an English plate.
A side-view of the John Dodd RR-Merlin engined car. It has an automatic transmission and the bodywork is mainly fibre-glass. With its long "hood", or bonnet in English, short-sighted drivers are not encouraged.
The mighty Rolls Royce Merlin engine. A 27 litre V-12 with 4 valves per cylinder, double overhead cams, originally with a supercharger (later higher-altitude versions had two in line superchargers).
This model has the supercharger removed and an American 4-barrel Holley carburettor fitted.
The engine produced over 1.000 bhp when new or 775 Kw.
The rear of the Merlin engined car, the one most usually seen by other drivers in a straight line. While the car is incredibly quick on acceleration and speed, the handling is not up to expensive sports car standards.
Author
Topic: The Beast (Read 2240 times)