A NEW MONSTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1932, Page 7

A NEW MONSTER.

Malcolm Campbell's Latest Bluebird. TERRIFIC POWER AND NOISE. LONDON, December 16. "Next February I shall be sitting behind an engine developing 2500 h.p., compared with the one of 500 h.p. originally in the Bluebird and that of 1500 h.p. when I made the record of 253 miles an hour." So writes Sir Malcolm Campbell in the "Daily Mail," describiug his preparations to defend his world's land speed record. "The Bluebird," he says, "is now being fitted with a Rolls-Royce aero engine, similar to that in the seaplane in which Flight-Lieutenant Stainforth made the world's air record of 400 miles an hour a year ago. It weighs a ton, and is the most tremendous power unit ever harnessed to a motor car chassis, which is being partially rebuilt to stand the strain. Fitted with an aluminium-stream-lined body, the car, 27 feet in length, will weigh several tons, and will consume 2.9 gallons of petrol a minute.

"The engine is so big that from the driving seat I cannot see over it, and must look along the cylinders' 'V banks. It has no exhaust pipes, and when the motor starts it belches yellow and blue flames, while the noise is so terrific that I .must use ear-protectors similar to those used in the navy during heavy gun practice.

"Enthusiasts who expect me to travel at 300 miles an hour must remember that beach conditions and the wind may affect my calculations. I understand that the American challenger will have a 24-cylinder Miller engine developing 5000 horse-power."