Top Secret 914 Project!, Incredible Horsepower! Options

[oakdalecurtis]

You read it here first! In a Classified, Top Secret build project done by aerospace engineers for a wealthy benefactor, a Merlin V12 race motor was removed from a P-51 race plane and then fitted into the rear of a specially designed and stretched 914 body. The supercharged race engine used in this project had previously been modified to produce over 3000 horse power! This is the same type of engine that powers many of the race planes at the annual Reno Unlimited Airplane Races. Almost every mechanical component in the powerful donor Merlin engine was modified from it's original air race flight configuration. These modifications were needed to allow the huge V12 motor to barely fit into the uniquely prepared, strengthened and lengthened 914 body. Here's a Top Secret, never seen before side picture/diagram of the car:

When the 914/Merlin hybrid was finally completed, the car was transported for initial testing, using an enclosed trailer, from it's top secret build location to the Bonneville Salt Flats. The first test runs of the car were to be done at night. Initial night testing was planned so as to reduce the chance of unwanted outsiders catching a glimpse of this revolutionary 914/Merlin monster car before it was ready for public viewing.
There was one small, unanticipated technical problem, however, discovered during the very first test run. Since the mass of the huge engine was greater than the weight of the entire 914 body, when the driver punched the throttle on the initial run, the tremendous torque put out by the massive V12 caused the Merlin engine to stay still, and the lightweight 914's body to rotate around it! The engineers are desperately trying to find a fix...... cheer.gif