If you want to get a big buzz from your car, try fitting it with an aeroplane engine. It may seem like putting a Wurlitzer in a marching band, but some famous, noble, and certifiably sane people have done it.

Readers may be familiar with this old photograph from the 20s showing a Fiat fitted with a 21.7 litre aeroplane engine. This machine broke the World's Land Speed Record in 1924 at 145.90 mph. The brave man at the wheel was Felice Nazzaro.

Other Land Speed drivers have tried going seriously fast by fitting aircraft engines to their cars, of course, and in many instances the name of Rolls Royce has been prominent. But these were not street cars, where the driver sat up at the steering wheel, hair blowing in the wind, flashing their headlights at slower drivers on the road.

The following photographs should give most enthusiats a lift. They were taken by Robert David (See his home page: http://www.netlink.com.au/~rdavid/classic.htm) at the Geelong Speed Trials, 60 km west of Melbourne, in November 1998. They show a Delage-Hispano Special. The Delage chassis is fitted with an 18,473cc Hispano Suiza V8 engine, producing 360 bhp at 2000 rpm, and the car is capable of 145 mph. The driver is Tony Osborne.

We note that Delage was no stranger to speed with big engines, as in 1923, a 10.5 litre engined car producing 280 bhp, covered the flying mile at Arpajon at 143.24 mph.

Whilst in the big-engine mode, MotorSnippets phoned Dr Stuart Saunders of Canberra just before Christmas, 2000. We asked him if a rumour we had heard was correct: that he owns a 1908 chain-driven MAB GP Replica with an aeroplane motor in it. It's true. Dr Saunders does own a Malicet et Blin machine made in Aubervilliers (Seine).

MAB, as the company was known, made the chassis, gearbox, and differential in about 1907. Stuart hunted the globe, and found a 27 litre Packard Liberty engine for it in Philadelphia, USA. How these little snippets grow more and more fascinating as you go along.

Many readers will remember the name of J.G. Parry Thomas, who in 1927, was killed while driving his car Babs in a landspeed record attempt at Pendine in Wales. Babs too was fitted with a Liberty engine. Parry Thomas' car was buried under the sand in the spot where it crashed. Many years later it was dug up again and restored. Now, parts of Parry Thomas' Babs are to be found in Stuart Saunders' MAB special.

Since the car was built it has covered over 16,000km. It has competed in many races, hillclimbs, and rallies.

Unable to get our feet back on the ground after making the acquaintance of the MAB Special, MotorSnippets also learned last week of the existence of a 1944 Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine, still in its original packing, somewhere out in the Australian bush.
An interstate phone call to a country property near the New South Wales city of Bathurst had us speaking to the owner of the big Merlin: a country gentleman called Tex Suttor. After we chatted a while about how the country has changed since the writer was a Bathurst schoolboy in 1949, Tex confirmed that he was indeed the owner of the engine, and that it was in perfect condition. It had been destined to power a warbird, but never left the ground. It has only 24.5 hours run time, has been well well stored and internally protected since 1944, and has not been not been run since the war.

Tex loved the engine when he bought it, and loves it still. As far as he is concerned it is a thing of beauty and importance. He has no intention of selling it or putting it in any kind of motor vehicle. He is more than content to admire it for what it is. Stuart Saunders assures me that there are many people like Tex. Often they are visitors to air museums around the world, including the one at Hendon in the UK, who simply look and admire - sharing this fine old gentleman's admiration and sense of awe.
Since speaking to Tex, MotorSnippets has looked up some books, and found that about 168,000 Merlins were built from the time they went into production in 1937. It was a V 12, with a capacity of 27 litres (1649 cu in). According to its various stages of development and supercharging, it had a power output ranging from 990 to 1410 bhp at around 2600 rpm.

Given its role in the Battle of Britain, and in other theatres of the second World War, it might be reasonable to imagine that the Rolls Royce Merlin engine had been even bigger than the Beatles.