For Sale: 4000+ hp, 500+ mph . . . . and a piece of history
10-17-05, 05:38 AM
#1
Out of Warranty
Thread Starter
For Sale: 4000+ hp, 500+ mph . . . . and a piece of history
Any motorhead has to appreciate the conversion of gasoline to earth-shaking thunder - in whatever form it takes. Now's your chance to own a bit of racing history at a bargain-basement price.
"Dago Red" is up for sale on eBay. SEE IT HERE
The P-51D Mustang that was designed and built during WW2 is barely recognizable today. Dago Red is not just a racing legend, but the five-time (consecutive) winner of the National Unlimited Class trophy at Reno. The sale package includes a spare engine, tools, engine and prop stands, support trailer and an RV - ready to go racing.
If you feel the need, your aircraft is waiting.
"Dago Red" is up for sale on eBay. SEE IT HERE
The P-51D Mustang that was designed and built during WW2 is barely recognizable today. Dago Red is not just a racing legend, but the five-time (consecutive) winner of the National Unlimited Class trophy at Reno. The sale package includes a spare engine, tools, engine and prop stands, support trailer and an RV - ready to go racing.
If you feel the need, your aircraft is waiting.
10-17-05, 08:12 AM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
This is an airplane, why's it in CAR chat? 
Was better suited in the clubhouse IMO, but then again, my vote don't count
j/p
That is an impressive flying machine, I wonder what it would be like to say that you own that thing...
Was better suited in the clubhouse IMO, but then again, my vote don't count
j/p
That is an impressive flying machine, I wonder what it would be like to say that you own that thing...
10-17-05, 10:21 AM
#6
Out of Warranty
Thread Starter
The Magic of Merlin
We are witnessing the passing of an age. Sadly, it looks like the P-51D is slowly fading into history. Its Rolls-Merlin engine, used in racing vehicles on from dragstrips to tractor pulls, air races, unlimited hydroplanes, and just about any contest that required massive power and low weight has been vanishing rapidly.
The engine, named for a small falcon, not the Aurthurian wizard, was designed in the mid-thirties to produce just over one-thousand horsepower on 87-octane gas, was developed during the war and after the installation of a supercharger, by the time it was installed in the P-51D, it was cranking out 1600 hp on 100-octane avgas. More impressive, the engine could be operated at full throttle for an entire 8-hour mission - this was a tough bird, indeed.
One example dug up out of a field where it had lain for over 45 years buried under six feet of clay, a vicitm of air combat in the skies over France, was shopped around unrestored for just over a half-million dollars recently. Speed sports of all kinds have devoured the stock of this legendary and once-plentiful powerplant. The Merlin is the gold standard of piston-powered flight, the 12 cyl, liquid-cooled engine even with open stacks produced a liquid growl that still cannot be duplicated by any other internal-combustion powerplant.
LISTEN HERE
If you can get to Galveston Island on Nov/ 13, there will be a local air show put on by the Lone Star Flight Museum - just to exercise the flying exhibits before bedding them down for the winter. Several Merlins will be in attendance. See, smell, and hear one for yourself! More on this show at LSFM Link.
The engine, named for a small falcon, not the Aurthurian wizard, was designed in the mid-thirties to produce just over one-thousand horsepower on 87-octane gas, was developed during the war and after the installation of a supercharger, by the time it was installed in the P-51D, it was cranking out 1600 hp on 100-octane avgas. More impressive, the engine could be operated at full throttle for an entire 8-hour mission - this was a tough bird, indeed.
One example dug up out of a field where it had lain for over 45 years buried under six feet of clay, a vicitm of air combat in the skies over France, was shopped around unrestored for just over a half-million dollars recently. Speed sports of all kinds have devoured the stock of this legendary and once-plentiful powerplant. The Merlin is the gold standard of piston-powered flight, the 12 cyl, liquid-cooled engine even with open stacks produced a liquid growl that still cannot be duplicated by any other internal-combustion powerplant.
LISTEN HERE
If you can get to Galveston Island on Nov/ 13, there will be a local air show put on by the Lone Star Flight Museum - just to exercise the flying exhibits before bedding them down for the winter. Several Merlins will be in attendance. See, smell, and hear one for yourself! More on this show at LSFM Link.
10-17-05, 10:39 AM
#7
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington
Posts: 3,057
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a video of a guy starting up a Merlin V12 in his garage and it alone sounds like a war. I'm a (very) amateur WWII fan and besides the B17, the P51 takes it as my favorite WWII machine. Absolutely awesome.
James
James
