ROARING MONSTER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19373, 23 December 1932, Page 9

ROARING MONSTER

SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL’S RECORD CAR. LONDON, December 8. “Next February I shall be sitting behind an' engine developing 2500 h.p., installed in my Bluebird car, compared with the original 500 h.p. engine used when I established the world record of 253 miles an hour,” writes Sir Malcolm Campbell, the British speed motorist, in an article in the “Daily Mail.” He describes his preparations to defend the record. “The Bluebird car is now being fitted with a Rolls-Royce aero engine, similar to that used by Flight-Lieu-tenant Stainforth when he made the air record of 400 miles an hour. “It weighs one ton, and is the most tremendous power unit ever harnessed to a motor-car chassis.

‘'The chassis is being partially rebuilt to stand the strain, and is being fitted with an aluminium streamlined body. “Twenty-seven feet in length, the car weighs several tons. It consumes 2 9 gallons of petrol a minute. The engine is so big that, from the driving seat, I cannot see over it. I must look along the cylinders’ V banks. “The ear has no exhaust pipes. When the motor starts, it belches yellow and blue flames and the noise is so terrific that I must use ear-protec-tors, similar to those used in the Navy during heavy gun practice. “Enthusiasts who expect me to reach 300 miles an hour must remember that the beach conditions and the wind may affect my calculations.

“I understand that the American challenger will be a 24-cylinder Miller cai', developing 5000 h.p.” Sir Malcolm Campbell’s attempt to raise the speed record will be made on Dayton Beach, Florida, United States.