Napier Railton running at Brooklands

[Steve Pyro]

I know it was this weekend and it's too late to go now chaps, but I've just got back from the Brooklands circuit in Surrey for their season opener motorsports weekend.

A highlight for me was the fact that the mighty 1933 24 litre Napier Lion aero engined Napier Railton was wheeled out of it's display, push started, and was allowed to blat around the Brooklands museum buildings, farting and crackling with every throttle application.

Did the earth move? - no, that was the W12 engine reverberating around my head.

It looks to be a bit of a complicated process for starting, with a bit of pre-oiling and fuel pump priming pumping being done, then a bit of advance / retard, followed by 4 heafty blokes push starting the car.

But worth it none the less.  The car holds the Brooklands outer circuit lap record of 143.44 mph (in perpetuity apparently) which is not bad for a car with 3 gears and only brakes at the back.....


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[Steve Pyro]

...also tucked away in the Land Speed Record display at Brooklands for it's winter rest is J. Parry Thomas's 27 litre Liberty engined 'Babs'.

Previous posts / threads have gone into the 1927 crash on Pendine Sands, the car being buried in the sand and it's subsequent restoration so I won't linger there, but it's good to see it in fine shape and, apparently, 'road' worthy.

The car held the land speed record for a time in 1926 at 172.331 mph......

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[Rhino]

A fine machine that Napier is. Had a good look at it at Goodwood a few years ago, some beutiful metal fabrication on it, then i got to help push start it, lovely.

[mgmark]

Brilliant to see and hear such monsters.   I remember seeing the bright red Sunbeam "1000hp", soon after it was restored to working condition, running in anger at the annual Speed Trials at Weston-Super-Mare in the late '80s.   It is powered by 2 x 500hp V-12 Sunbeam-Coatelen aero engines; Henry Seagrave gained the Land Speed Record with it at Daytona beach in 1927 and was the first to break the 200mph barrier.



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[Brad Zarse]

I was there on Saturday as well - that Napier is AWWWESOME.

If you ever get the chance to see it - make sure you stand IN FRONT of it when it is warming up....as glorious as the noise is,  the smell is poisioning!!

It was awesome to hear it blat around the museum though......

24 litres...... 12 cylinders - 3 bank of 4 - three exhausts - whats the fuel efficiency gonna be like in that!!??!!

Brad (fuel economy advisor)