Saturday, December 08, 2012

Liven Up Your Commute?

...So, you have this Packard (Merlin?) engine laying around....

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

That external tubular thing on the left-hand side of the car, right below the flaming exhaust manifolds... is that the gas tank?!

I'd still drive it, of course.

Borepatch said...

I was surprised that this sounded *just* like a Spitfire. I had thought that the prop noise would dominate.

Old NFO said...

Yeah!!! Gallons per mile, but WHO CARES! And yes, that IS the Spit engine!!! :-)

wolfwalker said...

Ummm...

Object has Merlin engine.

Object does NOT have wings.

Analyzing...[bip]
Analyzing...[bip]
Analyzing...[bip]

Analysis failure. Alien concept; does not compute. Please reboot Universe and try again.

(Pedant side note: technically it isn't quite the Spitfire engine. Spitfires and Hurricanes always used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Packard's Merlin was a copy of the Rolls engine, built in the US for the P-51 Mustang.)

Turk Turon said...

That's, what? A V-24?

Did you notice the blue Ford GT being moved out of the way just as the Packard-Bentley was pulling back into the paddock? I think maybe the waterworks is a feature, not a bug!

Helluva thing, though.

Anonymous said...

(First) Anon: At a guess I'd say it's an oil tank. There's a small tube running from near the front of it up into the engine somewhere. Line is way too small for coolant, And removing the fill cap on top would dump the whole cooling system, Besides. Fuel's probably stashed behind the driver.

Turk Turon said...

Sez here it's a 42-liter twin-port V-12, which explains the 24 exhaust pipes. With 1500 bhp. From a PT boat, yet!

NAVIGATOR said...

PT BOATS AVR (AIR SEA RESCUE) AND OTHERS

SHOULD NOT THE GROUND CREW STAND BY WITH
50 LB CO2 BOTTLES FOR START UP AND SHUT DOWN?

WOW ! BY THE WAY

Dave H said...

Must be a hoot to have to get clearance from the tower before you pull out.

Stretch said...

I've watched that 3 times now.
Twice with headphones on.
I believe driving that would be my last mortal act. Once done I'd die happy.

homebru said...


And the guy parked next to Mavis when she starts up gets to explain where those flame scorch marks in the paint came from.

Drang said...

Oh.
Em.
Gee.
I need a cold shower, just listening to it.
I want to see Clarkson and The Stig take it around the track...

Anonymous said...

I'm with Drang: the sound was... exciting.

And ditto Borepatch: it sounded EXACTLY like a Spitfire starting up*. I wonder what effect that sound would have on a German?

===

(*) Which I've only heard in movies, notably "The Battle of Britain" (1969).

Anonymous said...

docjim -

Get thee to Oshkosh for the fly-in, and you can revel in all sorts of glorious aircraft sounds.