I was going to post this subject as a new post, but after a search I found this topic dedicated to it, so I had to revive this. This car is unbelievable, and definitely one of the very first cars to deserve being coined a hot rod. Can you imagine the thumping power of that engine (actually 25,4 litres, or 1550 ci.... ), with an exposed flywheel spinning right at your feet? If you look, there's no floor, so you brace your feet around one of the two crossmembers available, and the comfiest one is the one sitting right behind the flywheel... just to keep you on your toes! The owner of this car (Mark Walker) has a previous history with "flying bedsteads" in the VSCC events, mostly aero-engined specials (the UK interpretation of the hot rod concept in a vintage suit), but he fell for this project big time and had to get it. The rear axle is a two-speed unit (no separate gearbox as such), and going by what I've learned about it, bottom gear is only used below 40 mph, and at idle it wants to roll at 30, so a constant braking and declutching is needed to drive it in slow traffic. The clutch itself is lined in brass, and it's still the original one, hasn't run out! I read a magazine article about this car a while back, and the guy wrote that even having driven many a modern hypercar, nothing would be so deeply etched in his memory as this car... small wonder! Definitely a wicked machine... much like my other land speed record breaker, the Fiat Mephistopheles, based on a 1908 racer, still fitted with chain-drive, and powered by a tiny (well, compared to the Darracq) 21,7 litre (1325 ci) inline six producing a measly 300 hp. This elevated the record to 146 mph in 1924. Doesn't seem that much when the Darracq recorded 122 mph in 1909 on some occasion of its US tour... Cheers, Eddie
Here's one of the first runs, and in the related videos you'll find some of it in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTXNZ9CVMtw Cheers, Eddie
The Jalopy Journal
