Napier-Bentley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. After links have been created, remove this message.
This article has been tagged since November 2006.

The Napier Bentley is a vintage racing car; a one-off special built in 1927 by original owner Peter Morley. It was originally built on a Sunbeam chassis, but was later built on the platform of a 1929 8 L Bentley. It has an awesome 24 L Napier Sea Lion W12 aeroplane engine (same as that used in the silver Napier-Railton) under its hood, which throws out 550bhp. It is seen regularly at historic racing events mostly in the United Kingdom, but has been spotted at some European events.

An attractive special, with its red bodywork and Napier-Railton-esque grille, it's a very popular car with spectators, because of the noise and fire. Incidentally, being a W12, the engine has three banks of four huge stub exhausts, one of which points straight out the side of the car. Due to these, the sound of the car is akin to a World War I biplane, and a cluster or mortar bombs going off. And there's the smoke. Due to the immense torque, the rear tyres produce clouds and clouds of smoke whenever this machine is launched, and the exhausts produce sparks, flames and smoke in equal measure.

Currently, since 1999, the car is owned by Chris Williams, who has made this car fly.