'The Beast', a 27-liter V12 street legal car, is for sale
Published on Mar 05, 2023 at 4:52 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Mar 06, 2023 at 2:11 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
This 27-liter V12 car combines the chassis of a Ford Capri with a Rolls-Royce engine from a tank.
It’s called ‘The Beast’, and it’s easy to guess why.
READ MORE: This wooden 6×6 Rolls-Royce Phantom drives like a $450,000 luxury car
The Beast is not a museum piece, either.
It is available from Classic & Car Auction and, believe it or not, it still works and it’s road legal.
Mind you, the would-be owner is going to need large pockets to keep it running because the car is super thirsty.
But then it would be, because underneath the Ford-based custom chassis lives a 27-liter engine.
If you measure engine capacity in cubic inches, that’s 1,648 cubic inches.
That’s basically the same as gluing together three Dodge Viper engines.
Surprisingly, despite its impressive cubic capacity, the engine is actually ‘just’ a V12.
Credit for the build goes to John Dodd, a former Rolls-Royce transmission specialist.
He bought the chassis from a fellow Rolls-Royce worker in the 1970s for £400, which is around $3,000 today when adjusted for inflation.
After that, he basically did everything else on his own.
For his project, he decided to use Rolls-Royce’s iconic ‘Meteor’ engine, the same exact engine that powered WWII tanks.
Visually, The Beast reminds us of a shooting brake with an incredibly long hood and an equally sizeable rear section.
It’s painted beige with silver wheels and garnished with some quirky features.
At the front, for example, you’ve got a grand total of eight headlamps and ‘JD’ (for John Dodd) lettering on the grille.
The cabin is relatively simple.
Leather upholstery was used for the door panels and the seats, while both the center console and the dashboard are mostly made of plastic.
The steering wheel is made of wood and aluminium, and it’s got ’70s’ written all over it.
One thing that stands out is the sequence of switches on the tunnel.
They all serve a purpose, according to John Dodd’s son Paul, most of them are needed to start the engine.
No need to panic, though.
In this clip filmed by Classic & Car Auction, Dodd says they’ll have “clear instructions nicely printed for the buyer”.
No pre-sale estimate has been given and this car is so unique it’s difficult to make a prediction.
Our guessestimate: more than $100,000 but less $500,000.
We’ll share the auction result after the final bidding stage.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
