John Dodd's 'The Beast' for sale
Discussion
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1972-john-d...
Bit of a curiosity but I remember hearing all the myths growing up. Wonder what it'll fetch?
Bit of a curiosity but I remember hearing all the myths growing up. Wonder what it'll fetch?
Fattyfat said:
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1972-john-d...
Bit of a curiosity but I remember hearing all the myths growing up. Wonder what it'll fetch?
Princess Anne had one of those you know.Bit of a curiosity but I remember hearing all the myths growing up. Wonder what it'll fetch?
Difficult to put a value on it.
I’d have it purely to take to Goodwood FoS, imagine pulling up in ‘performance parking’ with it.
Problem is, once you’ve done that, and similar things, it’s kind of lived it’s usefulness.
A 2 summer car.
Another thing is, if you built it yourself then it’s got a sentimental value. But as a bought toy, even in a collection it’s an odd thing, not great to drive & not pretty.
I predict £35k.
I’d have it purely to take to Goodwood FoS, imagine pulling up in ‘performance parking’ with it.
Problem is, once you’ve done that, and similar things, it’s kind of lived it’s usefulness.
A 2 summer car.
Another thing is, if you built it yourself then it’s got a sentimental value. But as a bought toy, even in a collection it’s an odd thing, not great to drive & not pretty.
I predict £35k.
DickyC said:
The auction write-up says it has a Merlin.
Do I need to read further?
The write up is wrong then.Do I need to read further?
The Merlin is / was always a supercharged aero engine, producing anything between 1000 - 1500 h.p. depending on mark.
The Meteor is the same basic engine, unsupercharged and meant for use in tanks and other military hardware. Was about 5-600 h.p. iirc.
Just sounds better to have a 'Merlin' engine fitted.
Kim
kimducati said:
DickyC said:
The auction write-up says it has a Merlin.
Do I need to read further?
The write up is wrong then.Do I need to read further?
The Merlin is / was always a supercharged aero engine, producing anything between 1000 - 1500 h.p. depending on mark.
The Meteor is the same basic engine, unsupercharged and meant for use in tanks and other military hardware. Was about 5-600 h.p. iirc.
Just sounds better to have a 'Merlin' engine fitted.
Kim
I'll dig it out. They'd be keen to have the information right.
Stick Legs said:
Another thing is, if you built it yourself then it’s got a sentimental value. But as a bought toy, even in a collection it’s an odd thing, not great to drive & not pretty.
I predict £35k.
How many people say say they have a 27 litre V12 though? You're in a very select bunch of nutters. I predict £35k.
DickyC said:
kimducati said:
DickyC said:
The auction write-up says it has a Merlin.
Do I need to read further?
The write up is wrong then.Do I need to read further?
The Merlin is / was always a supercharged aero engine, producing anything between 1000 - 1500 h.p. depending on mark.
The Meteor is the same basic engine, unsupercharged and meant for use in tanks and other military hardware. Was about 5-600 h.p. iirc.
Just sounds better to have a 'Merlin' engine fitted.
Kim
I'll dig it out. They'd be keen to have the information right.
If you're a serious bidder, you know all too well what The Beast is. However, we’re more than happy to retell the story. It started off as a bespoke rolling chassis built by Paul Jameson in 1966. It was his first road car build, so naturally he fitted a 27-litre Meteor engine from a tank. The chassis was made of box section, the suspension was a mix of Jaguar (rear) and Wolseley (front) and that was about it.
A chance meeting with Dodd, an automatic transmission specialist, would see him build a gearbox for it. Later, Jameson would sell the chassis to Dodd, who took the car one step further by bodying it. He sent the car to Fibre Glass Repairs - who built dragster bodies - and had them cloak it with a strange, Capri-esque body of outrageous, cartoonish proportions. And, because of the Meteor engine’s history, a Rolls-Royce grille, too.
Before Rolls-Royce’s lawyers could get too excited, the car was wrecked in a fire on its way back from Sweden. Dodd, however, saw this as an opportunity to improve rather than retire it. A new engine was sourced - the same 27-litre Merlin V12 that’s in it today, and the car was rebodied into what it wears now, complete with Rolls-Royce grille.
It's in Car & Classic. If it's wrong, let them know. I emailed them about a car they described as an AMG. It was a Mercedes with AMG bits. They thanked me and altered the description.
DickyC said:
kimducati said:
DickyC said:
The auction write-up says it has a Merlin.
Do I need to read further?
The write up is wrong then.Do I need to read further?
The Merlin is / was always a supercharged aero engine, producing anything between 1000 - 1500 h.p. depending on mark.
The Meteor is the same basic engine, unsupercharged and meant for use in tanks and other military hardware. Was about 5-600 h.p. iirc.
Just sounds better to have a 'Merlin' engine fitted.
Kim
I'll dig it out. They'd be keen to have the information right.
They are very different engines in reality. For a start they rotate the opposite way, which was a necessary part of the re-design to make it work in a vehicle application for use in a tank. So, making a Merlin actually work in a car/vehicle application is not that viable, which is why all such so-called 'Merlin' engine cars thus built have used the Meteor.
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