Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Video: 27-liter, Rolls-Royce airplane-engined Rover SD1

Charlie Broomfield got bored of working on run-of-the-mill project cars. He always seemed to finish them to quickly, and was never quite satisfied with the results. Charlie needed a challenge to his engineering and fabrication skills.

That challenge came in the form of a donated 1981 Rover SD-1. The SD-1 needed some serious help to be the luxury sport sedan it was when it left British Leyland during the Thatcher era. Instead of restoring the car from top to bottom, though, Charlie purchased a 27-liter Rolls-Royce Meteor engine from a British Spitfire fighter plane. The engine cost Charlie a slim £1,000.

With 600 horsepower and 1,500 pound-feet of ****-stopping gusto wedged between the frame rails, the SD-1 will now break 160 mph without going over 2,000 rpm. Almost none of the original Rover parts are left, save the body panels, and Charlie's goal is to crack 200 mph in the 24-cylinder beast before he considers the project done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Bnh...layer_embedded

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/02/v...ned-rover-sd1/

Fulorian

Rolls Royce Meteor was used in tanks, not Spitfires. A Spitfire probably couldn't even take off with a 600 hp engine... they used a much more powerful variant, the Merlin.

How the heck do you even fit a 27L engine into a car frame like that? That thing is monstrously big.

Bet it gets awesome gas mileage.