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Chevy Camaro RS by Chad Horwedel https://flic.kr/p/2k1BL4J

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Studebaker Avanti by Chad Horwedel https://flic.kr/p/2k1BLj8

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Documentary – Driving La Carrera: Rally Brothers

Driving La Carrera: Rally Brothers is a film about two brothers, Chris and Jeff Mason, who set out to compete in the world famous La Carrera Panamericana – a 1,900 mile rally across Mexico including hundreds of miles of high-speed stages over closed public roads.

The La Carrera Panamericana is a modern homage to the Carrera Panamericana which first took place in 1950 and ran until 1954 when it was discontinued. The reason the event was cancelled has long been a matter of debate, it may have been because there had been a number of deaths, however the event also cost the government a lot of money.

It’s also worth noting that motorsports were seen a little differently after the 1955 Le Mans Disaster that resulted in 84 deaths and 120 injuries – all from a single accident that sent a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR cartwheeling up across the packed main grandstand at over 125 mph.

Many have pointed to this incident as the reason for the cancellation of the Carrera Panamericana, as the public appetite for oftentimes dangerous races like the Carrera had been significantly diminished.

The original Carrera Panamericana was a 2,178 mile race on the north-south Mexican section of the Pan-American Highway, it was a 9-stage, 5-day race across the country organized by the national government to celebrate the opening of the new highway.

The Carrera Panamericana is best compared to its contemporary races from the same era – the Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio. Each of these events took place on public roads and they’re now remembered as some of the most memorable motorsport events of the time.

The modern La Carrera Panamericana features a field of 60 vintage race cars that compete over various stages, including the popular closed-road stages where there are no speed limits and no lurking police officers. The event stops for the night in colonial cities along the route, including Mexico City, which helps evoke the spirit of the original race from the 1950s.

This film tells the story of this modern La Carrera Panamericana through the eyes of two fun-loving brothers from the United States. They chose a trusty Volvo Amazon as their vehicle for the event and the film tells the tales of the highs and lows they experienced along the way.

I won’t go into too much detail here as I’ll just spoil the film for you, I will tell you it’s certainly worth a watch and it might just leave you trawling through the classifieds for your own vintage rally car.

Visit the official website here.

The post Documentary – Driving La Carrera: Rally Brothers appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/documentary-driving-la-carrera-rally-brothers/
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Chevy Nova SS by Chad Horwedel https://flic.kr/p/2k1Gdc6

from Tumblr https://somar78.tumblr.com/post/637339218174230528

1969 Ford Mustang by Chad Horwedel https://flic.kr/p/2k1Gdas

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For Sale: A Rolls-Royce Merlin Meteor V12 Tank Engine – 27 litres + 650 bhp

The Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 is one of the most famous engines of the 20th century and almost certainly the most famous of the Second World War – what a lot of people don’t know is that a version of the Merlin called the Meteor was developed for use in tanks, and it proved so successful it fundamentally changed the direction of British tank design.

The first examples of the Rolls-Royce Meteor were actually Merlins that had been recovered from crashed aircraft. They couldn’t be reused for flight but many of them were still fully functional after a rebuild, as many of these accidents had been runway incidents, gear up landings, or runway overruns.

It was clear that for use in tanks the Merlin would need to be significantly simplified, so the supercharger was removed along with the reduction gear. The direction of the engine’s rotation needed to be flipped as tank gearboxes worked in the opposite direction to propellers, this was achieved with new cams and a few other relatively minor changes.

Running on low octane pool petrol without the benefit of forced induction the Meteor was still capable of 550 to 650+ bhp – a stark increase over the somewhat underpowered engines frequently used in tanks at the time.

The first tests took place in September 1941 in England, a Crusader tank was modified to take a Meteor engine and it proved so fast the test team had trouble timing it – the tank was achieving speeds of over 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). This was an unheard of speed for a tank at the time and it certainly proved the concept.

Over the course of WW2 and in the years after, the Rolls-Royce Meteor engine was used in a variety of armoured vehicles including the Cromwell, the Challenger, the Avenger, the Comet, the Centurion, the Charioteer, the Tortoise (an experimental assault tank), the Caernarvon (used to train crews for Conqueror), and the Conqueror – a post war heavy tank.

Above Image: A Cromwell tank powered by a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine showcasing its speed during an inspection. Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museums.

With a swept capacity of 27 litres (1648 cu. in.) and up to 650 bhp at 2,400 bhp the Meteor proved longer lived than the Merlin it was a based on, remaining in production until the mid-1960s.

Surviving Meteors are now popular collector’s pieces due to the remarkable history, and many of them remain in running and serviceable condition.

The Rolls-Royce Meteor engine you see here is currently listed for sale with Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars with an asking price of £28,000 or approximately $37,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or enquire about buying it you can click here red button below to visit the listing.

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