Spitfire Engined car

[john2443]

There's a thread on PH here about the 27L Rover SD1, but that seems fairly sensible compared to this - how would you like to get that amount of power onto the road with tyres that narrow!

[a8hex]

Well it's very long, so when it started to spin you'd have time to react

[jith]

It's been done before in the seventies by John Dodds, a transmission specialist who horseshoed a Merlin engine into a Jensen chassis and built a Rolls style body around it.
He used a GM 400 'box to take the power and it was reputed to have exceeded 200 mph on the autobahns!
RR eventually took him to court, claiming that it was not a "real" RR, and he unfortunately lost.
I would have thought it doesn't get much more "real" than a Merlin engine!

Here's a link.

http://www.minifarm.eu/john_dodd.htm

[KerryStagmer]

I'm pretty sure that Leno's Phantom 2 merlin car has a moss crash box!

[john2443]

jith said:

It's been done before in the seventies by John Dodds

That's an interesting juxtaposition of timing, as the one the photo was built in 1952

[Balmoral Green]

I reckon it would be a great subject for a book. There are hundreds of them, I can think of over a dozen that I know of.

[jith]

john2443 said:

jith said:

It's been done before in the seventies by John Dodds

That's an interesting juxtaposition of timing, as the one the photo was built in 1952

Sorry John, I had no way of knowing as it looks brand new.

To be honest I don't have a great interest in this sort of car because I think it's just a wee bit silly. These engines are aero engines of vast capacity and totally unsuited to a road vehicle.

I remember John Dodds because he used to supply me with transmissions and he was top class in his field, but wildly eccentric!

[john2443]

"a wee bit silly" - I like that.

In fact, I think it's a bit more than a wee bit!

Edited by john2443 on Tuesday 2nd September 19:28

[NiceCupOfTea]

The article says it's a 21 litre car - but weren't the earlier Spitfire engines 27 litre (like the Meteor in the PPC SD1) and later they were enlarged to 37 litres or something. Not sure which was the Merlin and which the Griffon, but neither was 21 litres...

[aeropilot]

NiceCupOfTea said:

The article says it's a 21 litre car - but weren't the earlier Spitfire engines 27 litre (like the Meteor in the PPC SD1) and later they were enlarged to 37 litres or something. Not sure which was the Merlin and which the Griffon, but neither was 21 litres...

Yup Merlin was 27 litres, and the later Griffin (which was based on the pre-war R racing engine) was 37 litres.

The pre-war RR Kestrel was 21 litres, but these are pretty rare and are in serious demand for pre-war Hawker biplane restorations.

[chim666]

jith said:

It's been done before in the seventies by John Dodds,

IIRC, I saw this at Santa Pod back in the early 70s.

[TimCrighton]

There was one (aparently - long before my time) built in a garage at High Salvington on the A27, just outside Worthing in Sussex. It was used for the Brighton Speed Trials and similar. Not sure if its the one you're refering too?

[andye30m3]

TimCrighton said:

There was one (aparently - long before my time) built in a garage at High Salvington on the A27, just outside Worthing in Sussex. It was used for the Brighton Speed Trials and similar. Not sure if its the one you're refering too?

I saw this years ago at a car show at the anchor in, barcombe and its is a work of art, its taken something like 10-15 years to build and everything is perfect and looks original for a 1920's RR.

When i saw it it had no shell but i understand its finished now.

Edited by andye30m3 on Saturday 6th September 15:51

[dc53]

Bet it sounds

[john2443]

andye30m3 said:

I saw this years ago at a car show at the Anchor Inn, barcombe and its is a work of art, its taken something like 10-15 years to build and everything is perfect and looks original for a 1920's RR.

When i saw it it had no shell but I understand its finished now.

I don't think it's the same one, I think I remember 2 RR engined cars at the Anchor, certainly one without a body, but this one was made in 1952 and went to the US in the 50s.

Anyway, on the subject of the Anchor, it was a brilliant event which stopped, AFAIR after it changed ownership, do you know if there is an equivalent meeting these days?
I did go to the Cat at West Hoathley in July, but that was a much smaller thing, and only the roads and a small car park were available, so not as much space as at the Anchor.

[Huntsman]

Balmoral Green said:

I reckon it would be a great subject for a book. There are hundreds of them, I can think of over a dozen that I know of.

BG - come on then, lets have a list of Merlin engined cars.

1. Jay Leno's
2. Swandean car pictured here.
3. John Dodds
4. Aluminium bodied special style one I saw at Brooklands Centenary last year.
5. PPC Rover SD1.





Edited cos I forgot one!

Edited by Huntsman on Sunday 7th September 09:48

[aeropilot]

Huntsman said:

Balmoral Green said:

I reckon it would be a great subject for a book. There are hundreds of them, I can think of over a dozen that I know of.

BG - come on then, lets have a list of Merlin engined cars.

1. Jay Leno's
2. Swandean car pictured here.
3. John Dodds
4. Aluminium bodied special style one I saw at Brooklands Centenary last year.
5. PPC Rover SD1.

The Swandean car if the 21 litre capacity is correct, isn't a Merlin, but a rare RR Kestrel.
One of the Dodd's car IIRC was Meteor engined, as is that SD1, and as are a number of others. Quite a number of dragsters were built back in the '50's and early '60's in the USA with Allison V12's.

However, a guy in Australia has built a pukka supercharged RR Merlin engined '55 Chevy. And it's wonderfully insane...

See here....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj2GVfua84

[ettore]

TimCrighton said:

There was one (aparently - long before my time) built in a garage at High Salvington on the A27, just outside Worthing in Sussex. It was used for the Brighton Speed Trials and similar. Not sure if its the one you're refering too?

That the one pictured at the beginning of this thread.

[Huntsman]

aeropilot said:

Huntsman said:

Balmoral Green said:

I reckon it would be a great subject for a book. There are hundreds of them, I can think of over a dozen that I know of.

BG - come on then, lets have a list of Merlin engined cars.

1. Jay Leno's
2. Swandean car pictured here.
3. John Dodds
4. Aluminium bodied special style one I saw at Brooklands Centenary last year.
5. PPC Rover SD1.

The Swandean car if the 21 litre capacity is correct, isn't a Merlin, but a rare RR Kestrel.
One of the Dodd's car IIRC was Meteor engined, as is that SD1, and as are a number of others. Quite a number of dragsters were built back in the '50's and early '60's in the USA with Allison V12's.

However, a guy in Australia has built a pukka supercharged RR Merlin engined '55 Chevy. And it's wonderfully insane...

See here....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj2GVfua84

Thanks aeropilot.

According to wikipedia and another webiste, the Swandean car is 27 litre merlin, I think we should include in the list the meteor cars, I know its not got a blower and some components are steel not alloy but its 27 litre none the less.

List now looks like

1. Jay Leno's
2. Swandean car pictured here.
3. John Dodds
4. Aluminium bodied special style one I saw at Brooklands Centenary last year.
5. PPC Rover SD1.
6. 55 Chevy in Australia.

We should write a book.

[Redwing]

Wasn't there a wooden one built by a guy near Brighton? Also whatever happened to the John Dodds car?