Cars and bikes I’ve come across in my travels

Better get in quick, listed on Car & Classic with a current bid of 63K quid. :rolleyes:

Was featured on Silodrome last week, "The Beast" by John Dodd, 1972.

piet
 
Meteor tank engine (Merlin? yeah right) the tank had a bell housing and a clutch, the Spitfire had a propellor that drives at all times, still 27 litres of V12 and isnt it great that its all under the bonnet and not stuffed half into the cabin, it was far more impressive with the first body, in Maroon and with the RR radiator,(Rolls Royce cars is not the same firm as Rolls Royce aero engines, but it probably was in 1940). there is a step up 3:! gearbox because the motor turns at so slow RPM's, and then a GM TH 400 autobox, the front end was Wolseley/Austin Westminster, the rear end originally Jaguar IRS but now a solid live axle as of about 3 years ago, when JD was 90! OH! and "the arab" who spotted it on a German autobahn while doing 150MPH in his Porsche and unable to compete, then phoning RR and demanding that he gets one of them new Rolls Royce coupe's was none other than JD himself winding RR up to the nines, brilliant! take a close look at the plenum for the three 48DCOE Webbers" two carbs were not enough to feed the motor, so a third got added, JD claimed fuel consumption of 2MPG, but by the cringe does (did) that man love a bit of publicity, Shell believed him at the time and were sponsoring the fuel!
CLEM
 
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CLEMTOG said:
Meteor tank engine (Merlin? yeah right)
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There was a lot of commonality between the two as not just new Meteors were built but the aircraft engines could be overhauled when worn out and become a Meteor engine but as you say completely different power output systems and was derated in power output as well. In fact .... the first Meteors were built from the motors of crashed airplanes. The other benefit was components that would not meet aero quality standards could frequently meet the specs for the Meteor .

Other major differences were the removal of the supercharger and camshaft changed for reversed rotation of the motor. The test mule was a Crusader tank that went like the blazes and attained speeds well in excess of 50 mph with suggestions that closer to 70 was true ..... but never measured. It got to maximum speed in a bloody hurry too!

Jim
 
Speaking of adv bikes, I just got back from the Dargo High Plains in Victoria with my other triple (the Lav wasn't interested in going).
Lots of dirt, trout and wood smoke😁.
 

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Chuck3CL said:
Speaking of adv bikes, I just got back from the Dargo High Plains in Victoria with my other triple (the Lav wasn't interested in going).
Lots of dirt, trout and wood smoke😁.
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The dirt roads look pretty good except for the probable dust. Here in Argentina they are gravel and fist sized rocks with occasional deep sand traps. It looks like a great trip!
 
Alzero said:
The dirt roads look pretty good except for the probable dust. Here in Argentina they are gravel and fist sized rocks with occasional deep sand traps. It looks like a great trip!
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Had the rocks and sand traps on this trip too, but not where the cows were!
 
Three horses! 30% increase in power from a 2CV (deux chevaux - two horses)

back to school for you Renfrew 2 horses + 50% increase in power is 3 horses

CLEM
 
Merlin = supercharger early ones single stage later ones two stage
Meteor = no supercharger just bucket with holes for a carb.
JD beast = 3 X 48DCOE webbers
Griffon = bigger longer and much better

Meteor engine usually 4 blocks of three cylinders, Merlin engine usually 2 blocks of six cylinders (not by any means conclusive)

The Mighty Antar (tank prime mover) had a V8 made by Rover cars which was the above with 4 cylinders lopped off

A mad Aussie made a motorcycle with two cylinders of the above to make a 5 litre V twin, it has since been dismantled I believe.

Jay Leno's Bently/Bently lookalike 27 litre car is a thing to behold it was UK made.

Paul Jamesons six wheeled 27 litre open top car is a behemouth of a thing, its a lorry chassis, huge, high, wide, ugly and slow!

CLEM
 
sfcpiet said:
Vel Satis' ugly little brother, Megane. Certainly not the best Renault ever produced, almost forgotten... thankfully.

piet
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What is the reputation of the Avantime? I always liked the look of them. I just looked at the Vel Satis on mobile.de, is it a cheaper version of the Avantime without all the features and expensive Matra engineering?
 
Alzero said:
What is the reputation of the Avantime? I always liked the look of them. I just looked at the Vel Satis on mobile.de, is it a cheaper version of the Avantime without all the features and expensive Matra engineering?
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The Avantime was the halo car for Renault. Turned out it didn't hit on in the market, ie, nobody wanted/needed it, the lower-key Vel Satis was no better. Both nice luxo-barges, with everything on board that you might need... or not. Lots of minor niggles, as was to be expected with luxury Renaults.

Drove a 1st. gen. Espace for a while when it first appeared, that certainly was a game-changer!

piet
 
I have a character defect that compels me towards “quirky” cars, I can’t help myself. Usually I come to my senses before I actually buy them, but the flaw is there and is getting more pronounced as I get older.
 
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