Lift-off for supercar with a Spitfire engine
A HUGE hand-built supercar has roared along a beach for the first time – powered by the type of engine which made wartime Spitfires rule the sky.
The gleaming motor has been a 10-year labour of love for its creator, semi-retired John Crowhurst.
It boasts a growling 24-litre RollsRoyce Merlin engine that guzzles a gallon of fuel every four minutes and has a potential top speed of 204mph.
John, 74, has named it Caractacus, after the eccentric inventor played by Dick Van Dyke who rebuilds an old car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The 1952 engine was originally made to power a Centurion tank but was taken out when it developed a fault.
John, a probate lawyer by profession, set his heart on getting a Merlin when he came over for a visit from his native South Africa and heard a car which had been fitted with one.
Relieved
He now lives in North Devon and took the car for its first spin along Saunton Sands, near Barnstaple.
It is equipped with tyres that limit its speed to 135mph, although John planned to keep it to around half that speed for its first outing.
Speaking ahead of the run he said: “My heart is in my mouth – I’ll be greatly relieved once it is safely over.”
John said it had taken him 10 years of “hard slog” to get to this point – with more work still to do on the mudguards and lighting system.
Explaining his love for cars, he said: “My father rented out a garage to an English engineer when I was young and that sparked my interest.
“I read an article about another English chap who built a Merlinengined car and came over to see it.
“When I heard the Merlin engine roar I knew I had to have one.”