THE EMPIRE
There is a long history of using aircraft engines in cars to try and go faster or to try and be differet. The Merlin V12 has found it’s way into a whole variety of different cars, and one of New Zealand’s most successful race cars is powered by a Lcyoming flat 4.
Most air craft engines don’t have a lot of peak hp, and most operate over a narrow rev band. But they do have huge amounts of torque, everywhere. That makes them very predictable to drive with very linear acceleration. And when they have exceeded their usable flying hours they are often very affordable while still being extremely reliable.
But there is one engine type you won’t see a lot of in cars; Radial engines only really work well on the front of planes. They are air cooled, tall and wide. They simply don’t fit into automotive applications.
Unless you happen to have a 1939 Plymouth Truck, easy access to a cheap Radial engine and just enough crazy to put the two together.
Then you get the Plymouth Radial Air. It runs a 757 ci (12.4 L) Jacobs R-755-A2 Radial driving a TH400 through a V-Drive from a boat. It only makes about 300hp, but that is at 2,200rpm.
Built by Gary Corns, it is a beautiful bit of engineering and problem solving.
Check out Jay Leno’s review of it:
-Moppie
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