The unique 27-liter “Monster” is being auctioned – it was the fastest in the world

Known from TV, car magazine covers and YouTube over the years, the one-of-a-kind ‘The Beast’ is now for sale in the UK. Under the incredibly long hood hides a 27-liter Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engine.

Fastest car in the world , According to at least a 1975 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, it is now for sale. It circles the unique and slightly legendary “beast” with a top speed of 290 km / h. Together with its eccentric owner and part-builder John Dowd, to say the least, it once infuriated both Rolls-Royce and the British legal system.

We’ll start with the bad news though. Engineer John Dodd left us at the age of 90 in December 2022. Therefore, the family, led by son Paul, have now chosen to sell The Beast through British Car & Classic in the hope that a ‘real enthusiast’ will take over guardianship.

The original build was done in the late 1960s by Paul Jameson, who was unable to find a gearbox powerful enough to handle the engine’s massive torque. Then gearbox specialist John Dowd took over and completed the car.

So, you can now become an owner to something as practical in these tough economic times as the car whose Rolls-Royce V12 drinks eight English languages pints Or roughly four liters per minute when running or roughly 12 liters per mile on the road.

But then it’s an aircraft engine with 750bhp and around 2,300Nm at the flywheel sent through a three-speed automatic transmission. By the way, it was achieved without overcharging.

The engine gets its soup and air from a Holley four-port carburetor hidden under the “Merlin” nameplate. But hey! This means that…

“application, application, application”, You, the experts on Rolls-Royce Merlin V12s, would probably say so. This engine lacks the two-stage centrifugal compressor – it is in fact the Meteor variant that sat in the Centurion (Stridsvagn 81, 101, 102 or 104 in Swedish service)!

Nix and Paul Dodd demonstrate in their Car & Classics video about the car (which you can find a bit of). It’s actually a real Merlin Mark 45 in The Beast. According to old information, it should have been from a Bolton Paul Balliol school plane and not from the legendary Supermarine Spitfire fighter plane from WWII.

The Beast as it originally appeared after being completed by John Dowd – with the Rolls-Royce grille later removed.

However, the car had a meteoric flair from the start when John Dowd took delivery of it from builder Paul Jameson in the early 1970s. The body that Dodd had was a red fiberglass workshop with a Rolls-Royce grill – much later it had to be removed after Dodd lost his lawsuit against the car manufacturer.

After John Dodd was sued by Rolls-Royce, John Dodd eventually replaced the grill with one bearing his initials – after first fleeing the car to Spain. He also stayed there until now.

However, it was burned outside of Örebro On the way home after performances at the Hot Rod Show and in person to car-loving King Carl XVI Gustaf. Then a huge insurance sum provided the basis for the revived beige Merlin-engined car we see today.

It’s just one of several crazy stories Paul Dodd tells about his dad in the above video, which get a few laughs. Paul also says he hopes the car will find a new home with a true car enthusiast, preferably in the UK.

The auction was held on March 9 at Cars and Classics websitebut it is already possible to bid in advance.

As small brackets, we can add that Paul Jameson Ramsey Merlin built more cars after he handed the monster over to John Dowd. One of these, built on a 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II frame, was completed by Jay Leno who made a video about it.

We don’t have an exact measurement of The Beast’s length, but it’s likely over 6 meters. The front camper comes from Austin Wolseley. There is now a solid axle from American Currie Enterprises in the rear.

The interior was built from the same fiberglass workshop that made the body. Note the many keys that the driver must remember before each start-up.

The condition is relatively good for the age of the car. Many car magazines can be seen with The Beast on their covers in the center armrest.

Combi slot and plenty of storage space. A clean tire for a used car, right?

Photo: Car & Classic, Private/Facebook