The Rolls Royce Merlin, although designed as an aero engine, was used in other applications both on land and at sea.
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Michael Wilcock of Sussex, England built the Swandean Spitfire Special[1], using a Merlin XXV engine acquired from a scrap yard for one hundred and forty pounds. The engine was installed in a home-brewed chassis confected from two Daimler Dingo scout car chassis. The car was run in the Brighton Speed Trials[2] in 1953, and was sold to James Duffy of St. Louis, Missouri in 1956. As of 2005, the vehicle is still in St. Louis, where it is undergoing restoration.
In the 1960s, Paul Jameson put a Merlin engine into a chassis he had built himself.[3] He did not get around to building a body, and sold the car to Epsom automatic transmission specialist John Dodd, who fitted a fibreglass body based on the shape of a stylized Ford Capri and named the machine "The Beast".[3][4] The Beast, the engine of which came from a Boulton Paul Balliol training aircraft, driving a General Motors TH400 automatic transmission, was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most powerful road car.[5] "The Beast" has used two different fibreglass bodies during its life; the first, in the shape of a stylized Ford Capri, was destroyed in a fire although the engine, running gear and chassis survived. Dodd rebuilt the engine and commissioned a new body, this time a tan 2-door "Shooting brake".[6] In both incarnations the car used Rolls-Royce grilles, badges and hood ornaments, none of which were authorised by the company. In 1974 "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. After appearing before court nine times, and serving a six month jail sentence for contempt of court, the Rolls-Royce trademarked features were removed and the grille was replaced with one bearing Dodds' "JD" initials.[6][7] Dodd now lives in Spain and still owns the car, occasionally driving it to automotive shows.[6] In the 1970's, Jameson built a second Merlin-engined car, this being a mid-engined six-wheeler. [8] The engine of this vehicle was two-stage supercharged and was in 1988 reportedly in a museum in The Netherlands[9].
Recently in Australia, Rod Hadfield, of the Castlemaine Rod Shop, used the Merlin engine in a 1955 Chevrolet BelAir Sports Coupe, which was named "Final Objective."[10]
In the mid-forties and early fifties, aviation engines gained in popularity as powerplants of choice for unlimited hydroplane racing, given their relatively high power-to-weight ratio, reliability and availability. Starting with the MISS WINDSOR raceboat at Detroit in 1946, several ever-more-powerful variants of the Merlin were so used, over the next decades, in a heated battle against the equally popular Allison V-1710. In unlimited hydroplane racing, both were eventually supplanted by gas turbine engines, which exhibit even more favourable power-to-size and power-to-weight ratios.[11]
Some of the most significant Merlin-powered hydroplanes include:
The Meteor was a tank engine developed from the Merlin in World War II. It was detuned, did not have a supercharger, and ran on lower-octane pool petrol (as did the early Merlins). Manufacture was transferred from Rolls-Royce to Rover, who developed the smaller Meteorite V-8 engine from it.
