- Engineering perfection

Edd China to lead celebration of Aero-engined beasts of yesteryear

Meet Edd China and a collection of aero-engine cars at the London Classic Car Show

Aero engines – engines originally designed for an aeroplane, crammed into the body of a car – are a strange and wonderful quirk of automotive history. Pre-dating world war 1 and mirroring the rise of the automotive eccentric, they fed the passions of those brave and foolhardy enough to attempt land-speed records. Records achieved by strapping the biggest engine they could possibly find, to a preposterously small drivers’ cockpit.

During the inter-war years, when there were plenty of surplus planes lying around, aero-engine cars became quite the trend, powering numerous high-speed racing cars. It’s an intriguing world that has evolved from piston powered machines to turbine and jet engine monsters. From an engineering perspective, something to cause much drooling and fizzing in the sensory regions.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to know more about these magical beasts and the magnificent fellows that raced them, you’ll be delighted to hear that TV's Wheeler Dealer presenter Edd China, is to lead a celebration of historic aero engines at the London Classic Car Show, at ExCeL London 14-17 February.

Fans of Edd will know him as a deftly clever engineer, as well as an instantly engaging presenter. He also has a huge passion for aero-engined cars, having been inspired by them since a child – “Aero engine cars are fantastic, exciting machines and it’s where the magic of engineering all started for me. The power and speed they offer is incredible. You needed to be extremely imaginative, inventive and a little eccentric to shoehorn one of these enormous engines into a car, and that’s what makes them so exciting. It’s exactly what engineering of the time was all about.”

Amongst the beasts to admire are:

- 27-litre V12 Thomas Special, ‘Babs’. Also known as the ‘Chitty 4’ or the ‘Higham Special’. Built in 1923 by Count Zborowski. It was used by racing driver John Parry-Thomas to break the world land speed record in 1926, at 171.09mph.

Tragically, Parry-Thomas was killed in the vehicle at Pendine Sands, South Wales, while attempting another go at the record in 1927. He was the first driver to be killed in pursuit of the land speed record.

The car was buried under the sand dunes on the beach where it lay for more than four decades until 1967, when excavated by enthusiast Wyn Owen who restored to running condition. Today’s car features original parts wherever possible, including a 1917 27-litre Liberty aero-engine made by Packard. It has a Rubery-Owens-built chassis based on a 200hp Blitzen Benz, with a four-speed exposed chain drive gearbox.

- 27-litre Hispano Suiza V12, known as ‘Sid’ after its characterful hissing noise. The Show car is a faithful recreation of the 1920s land speed record cars, based on a Hispano Suiza 27-litre Mb12 aero engine from Switzerland, with a Delage Type CO2 40/50hp chassis and three-speed Delage straight-cut gearbox. Created by the Baker brothers in the mid-1980s, Sid features incredible engineering to produce around 600bhp at 2500rpm while weighing just 1,650kg.

GN Curtis

GN Curtis

- 1921 V8 GN Curtiss, made by Ron Godfrey and Archie Frazer Nash. The Show model started out as a standard 1921 GN Vitesse but after blowing its standard 90-degree V-Twin engine it was left until 1991. Instead of being restored with the standard engine, a 1916 Curtiss 90-degree V8 aeroplane engine was fitted to give the 605kg machine 110hp. A new ash-framed aluminium body was made in the style of a works racing GN, with the chequered colour scheme copied from a GN that raced at Brooklands in 1922.

According to China. “You need to see them up close to really appreciate the engineering achievement. Simply the size of them alone is incredible, with most of the vehicle being engine. I hope this collection of incredible machines will fire up the curiosity of the show visitors, just as they did for me.”

Want to get up close and personal with an aero-engine? Click here for further details and to buy tickets. Use the code "DRIVETRIBE" to get 2 tickets for £40, a 20% saving on the advance ticket price.

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Comments (2)

  • Great article Jim! The experience generated from the noises and smells and vibrations of driving one of these museum pieces just has to be incredible! Have a great weekend!

      2 years ago
  • What about the Tucker 48? That had a helicopter motor, which is hard to top.

    So better be there.

      2 years ago
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