Talk:Rolls-Royce Merlin alternative uses

Vague stirring in my grey matter

I can remember (very vaguely) an article in Bike Magazine, in the mid 70's which described a motor bike built by an Australian guy, who had used two cylinders cut from the Merlin from a wrecked Spitfire. Anyone else know anything about this --Yendor1958 (talk) 11:33, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

One of several. Probably outnumbered by those bikers who have chunks of Merlin in their workshop, still waiting to do it. It's not that hard to find Merlins but many of them, especially crash-recoveries which back-then weren't in bad condition, will have suffered prop-impacts that crack the reduction gearcase and possibly damage the crank. A shortened Merlin is a far more practical proposition to find the bits for than a 12-pot resto. Andy Dingley (talk) 12:02, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

You're probably thinking of Lucky Keizer. This page http://home.st.net.au/~fettesi/merlin.htm has a picture of the bike as it was first built, and this page http://thekneeslider.com/5000cc-v-twin-motorcycle-engine-for-sale/ shows how it finished up. I have that issue of MCN somewhere and it has a long article about how Keizer built the bike. --TrogWoolley (talk) 00:02, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Other Uses

I have seen one of these in use as a generator in the basement of an office building.151.170.240.200 (talk) 14:42, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

The Beast

I have removed the following from the article:

In the 1960s, Paul Jameson put a Rolls-Royce Meteor (often mistakenly described as a Merlin) engine into a chassis he built himself. He did not get around to building a body, and sold the car to Epsom automatic transmission specialist John Dodd, who had supplied the automatic gearbox. Fibre Glass Repairs in Bromley, Kent, fitted a fibreglass body and the car was named The Beast (mk1) The Beast (mk1) was sponsored by British Petroleum and was extremely popular at car shows all over Europe. The engine is claimed to be a Merlin from a Boulton Paul Balliol training aircraft, and drives a General Motors TH400 automatic transmission. It was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most powerful road car. Unfortunately the first Beast (mk1) caught fire on the way back from a car show in Stockholm after meeting the King, John Dodd tried frantically to extinguish the fire but failed and The Beast was reduced to a burnt wreck. The Beast has used two different fibreglass bodies during its life; the first (mk1) a saloon shape in dark red and the second current existing Beast (mk2) a 2-door estate car in beige. In both incarnations the car used Rolls-Royce grilles, badges, and hood ornaments, none of which were authorized by the company.

The Beast was brought to the attention of Rolls-Royce, who took Dodd to court after he refused to remove their radiator grille, badges, and Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. Dodd lost the court battle and the Rolls-Royce trademarked features were removed and the grille was replaced with one bearing Dodd's "JD" initials. Dodd now lives in Spain and still owns the car, occasionally driving it to automotive shows.

In the 1970s, Jameson built his first Merlin-engined car, this being a mid-engined six-wheeler. The engine of this vehicle was two-stage supercharged and was, in 1988, reportedly in a museum in The Netherlands. His second was fitted in a 1920s Rolls Royce Phantom, now owned by TV presenter Jay Leno in California.

given the claim that the engine was a Meteor, and "often mistakenly described as a Merlin". Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:44, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

• I've restored it. This distinction is absolutely no reason to remove it. Andy Dingley (talk) 22:52, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

References