John Dodd’s ‘The Beast’ is for sale

[addyguy]

Those who are into hot-rodding have most likely heard of Englishman John Dodd’s 1970’s custom car, The Beast; a 27-litre Merlin engine powered ‘wagon’.
He died a couple of years ago, and it seems his creation is for sale in an auction; I can’t find a link to it, but Car and Classic auctions(?) will have it starting March 9th.
I’m thinking it would be a good choice for my 75-mile a day round trip commute, what do you think?
I figure I can collect points buying lots of 87- octane regular gas, and I think 0W-20 would work well for maximizing fuel economy…or should I try 0W-16?

 

[Astro14]

You don’t want to run it on 87 - even 100LL would be too low - see if you can find some 115/145…

 

[Oillover]

I think 0W-20 would work well for maximizing fuel economy…or should I try 0W-16?

0w8 or suffer catastrophic engine failure.

 

[SaberOne]

The Loves truckstop has 110 octane.

 

[4WD]

john dodd the beast - Bing video

www.bing.com

 

[Astro14]

0w8 or suffer catastrophic engine failure.

It’s a 1938 engine.

In his climate? Straight 50. In the winter. Straight 60 in the summer.

If it’s going to be cold, drain all 27 quarts, bring it inside, and add the warm oil just before cranking.

Expect to use about 3-6 quarts per hour…

 

[addyguy]

Aero shell 15W-50 should work, I’d think? It’s been driven fairly regularly, so I wonder if it’s been ‘modernized’ enough to run 100LL? I can’t think of anything else that would be easily obtainable to run it on?

 

[Greasymechtech]

1972 John Dodd's The Beast For Sale By Auction

Legendary John Dodd creation, The Beast27,000cc Merlin engineTruly a one-off buildCustom-built automatic transmissionCurrie rear axle Ful...

www.carandclassic.com

 

[Sierra048]

Respectfullly, that is one ugly looking vehicle.

 

[A_Harman]

Double ugly.
But 1650 cubic inches makes up for a lot.

 

[Jim K]

"The Beast is For Sale".
No , I`m not for sale.

 

[Kira]

I can't get any photo of Manufacturers Hanover's "Anycar" to take. They made two. The first in 1971.
Whack-O show cars were a thing back then.

Anybody remember American Standard's "Bathroom Car"?

 

[Astro14]

Aero shell 15W-50 should work, I’d think? It’s been driven fairly regularly, so I wonder if it’s been ‘modernized’ enough to run 100LL? I can’t think of anything else that would be easily obtainable to run it on?

The Aeroshell would be a reasonable modern equivalent, I would think. Original spec was 60 summer and 50 winter.

The engine, when it first came out, was intended to run on lower octane fuel. Boost was limited in those early versions.

I would guess that you could run it on 100LL if you kept the boost to moderate levels. Keep the blower in low gear, for example. Keep the RPM modest, and the boost under 10 PSI.

I've not flown a Merlin engine airplane, but as I understand it - in high blower, full boost, they were running close to 25 PSI of boost, and the 145 octane was absolutely required. With that level of boost, and with that octane, the engine was making near double the original horsepower.

There is actually a Packard-built Merlin on display at our little air museum in Virginia Beach.

Military Aviation Museum | Aircraft Collections | Virginia Beach, VA

The Military Aviation Museum, located in Virginia Beach, is home to the world's largest collection of airworthy vintage military aircraft.

www.militaryaviationmuseum.org

 

[Oillover]

It’s a 1938 engine.

In his climate? Straight 50. In the winter. Straight 60 in the summer.

If it’s going to be cold, drain all 27 quarts, bring it inside, and add the warm oil just before cranking.

Expect to use about 3-6 quarts per hour…

Are you suggesting thinner oils cannot protect the same as a thicker oil?

 

[Astro14]

Are you suggesting thinner oils cannot protect the same as a thicker oil?

I am suggesting that oil meeting specification should be used.

In this case, monograde was specified because it was the only thing available at the time. The engine had oil cooling, so the oil operating temperature should remain consistent, meaning there is no good reason to deviate from what worked at the time.

 

[michaelluscher]

They claim it runs on 2 star (old UK nomenclature) = 87 US octane
R.I.P John Dodd, that's some peak British eccentricity, no one does it like them
It's a "step up" transmission, based on a THM-400