5 Most Important Aircraft Engined Cars Ever Made

In the period between the two world wars, with a surplus of unused airplanes and aeronautical engines lying in warehouses throughout the US and Great Britain, speed-seekers and experimental engineers began installing airplane engines into cars.  At the time, car racing was an exciting new sport, and all those involved were seeking every advantage they could get.  The sport was fast evolving, and rapid innovation in the field meant land-speed records were being set and re-broken at an astounding rate.  Today, looking back on these early champions of the road, one is struck by the obvious lack of aerodynamic design features.  But while these speedsters from the 1920’s and 30’s may lack the curves of their modern counterparts, they were nonetheless pioneers of the now firmly established connection between airplane and automobile design.  Clearly, power came before grace.

These are the five most important aero-engined cars of all time:

1 Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Bang Bang (not ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’), built in the 1920’s was the world’s first aero-engined car.  Actually, Chitty Bang Bang was the name given to four different cars designed by Count Louis Zborowski and his engineer Clive Gallop.  Banned within the city limits of Kent for their incredibly loud engines, all four featured Mercedes Benz chassis, and each had a bigger engine than the last.

The first model, with its Maybach aero engine, reached a speed of 190 km/h and famously won many road races.  The last model featured a 450 horsepower 27-liter V12 Liberty engine and set a new land-speed record in 1926 at 273.6 km/h.

2 1948 Tucker Sedan

The 1948 Tucker ‘Torpedo’ is arguably the coolest car of all time.  Although originally intended for mass production, only 51 ever rolled off the assembly line.  Despite Preston Tucker’s multi-million dollar investments and even his purchase of the airplane manufacturing company responsible for producing 65% of all US military aircraft at the time (which he completely rededicated to manufacturing engines for his sedans), the company went bankrupt in a cloud of questionable politics just as production began.

To give you some idea of what these cars were capable of: in an early test-run, one flipped three times at 153 km/hr.  The driver walked away with only bruises, and the car was later driven off the track.

The sedans feature specially modified 166 horsepower Franklin Air-Cooled Flat-6 engines, and are some of the most expensive vehicles in the world today.  One recently sold for about $2 million.

3 Sunbeam 1000 HP

“The Slug” broke the land-speed record in 1926 (stealing the title from Chitty Bang Bang, in fact) when it recorded an astounding rate of 327.97 km/h.  Powered by two airplane engines and built in the UK, it was the first vehicle to top the 200 mph mark.

4 Thunderbolt

Driven by Captain George E.T. Eyston, the Thunderbolt looks more like a spaceship than a car.  It set the land-speed record in the UK three times in two years, finally topping out at 575.34 km/h in 1938.  Weighing more than 7-ton, it was powered by a Rolls Royce V-12 aero engine.

5 Thrust SSC

The world’s first supersonic car, this British jet-propelled speedster was the first car to break the sound barrier when it recorded an unprecedented speed of 1,228km/hr in 1997 in Nevada’s Black Rock desert.

The land-speed record set by the Thrust SSC more than 15 years ago is still standing.  But it may not be for long.  Engineers are currently testing a design for a jet-propelled vehicle called the Bloodhound SSC they hope will top 1600 mp/h, which is scheduled to be completed sometime next year.  At the moment, the engine is undergoing stress testing, and an early fire-up recently created one of the loudest sounds ever recorded in the UK––more than 185 decibels!  If the vehicle is a success, it will redefine the science of fast cars and set records that won’t soon be broken.