TWO CHANCES OF A LIFETIME?

British legend John Dodd’s 1972 car The Beast was auctioned this month by online portal Car & Classic. Powered by a 27,000cc Merlin V12 engine (as used in supercharged form in the Spitfire fighter plane), this behemoth was once recorded at 183mph and named by the Guinness Book of World Records as 'the world’s most powerful car' in 1977.

The Beast’s rolling chassis started life in 1966, built by Paul Jameson as a road-going car originally powered by a 27-litre Meteor Rolls-Royce engine. John Dodd eventually acquired this and had it bodied by Santa Pod Raceway owners Fibre Glass Repairs. The heart of The Beast is now its naturallyaspirated V12 Merlin engine, which reportedly delivers around 750bhp at the flywheel. A custom interior includes a bank of red switches which are used to initiate the starting sequence for the airplane engine. The front suspension uses Austin elements, whilst the rear is derived from a Jaguar XJ12 and sports a heavy-duty Currie axle. An iconic vehicle to a generation of petrolheads, it sold for £72,500.

Meanwhile, a 100-yearold 1923 Bentley 3-Litre race winner at Brooklands went under the hammer with H&H Auctions. This Bentley 3-Litre spent the first part of its life being raced at Brooklands, picking up a win in a 90mph Long Handicap recording two laps at 92.23mph. It also went on to claim a third-place finish at the 35th 100mph Short Handicap in the hands of the rather splendidly-named Captain Cecil Wingfield Twisleton-Wykeham Fiennes, relative of famed explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the actor Ralph Fiennes. With continuous vehicle history from new and a current 60-year ownership, this vehicle with a unique history sold for £157,500, including buyer's premium.