GREAT RACING ENGINE

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1932, Page 5

GREAT RACING ENGINE

DEFENDING SPEED RECORD. TREMENDOUS POWER UNIT. London, Dec. 10. “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, describing his preparations to defend his wprld’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. “It weighs a ton and is the most tremendous power unit ever harnessed to a motor-car chassis, which is being partially re-built to stand the strain. Fitted with an aluminium, stream-lined body, the car, 27ft 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 oyer 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 21cyiinder Miller engine, developing 5000 horse-power.”