From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'The Motor' magazine detailing a 248 m.p.h. land speed record on the Dessau Autobahn, with comparisons to other record-breaking cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 128\3\ scan0017 | |
| Date | 14th February 1939 | |
| February 14, 1939. 61 The Motor 248 m.p.h. Dessau Autobahn The beautifully streamlined record-breaker. ZEIL! Pushing off at the start of the record attempts. The engine is of the V12 type, with twin overhead camshafts to each block, four valves per cylinder, and steel cylinders mounted on a light metal crankcase. There are two superchargers at the front end of the unit, with three carburetters. Last year these engines were giving off round about 400 b.h.p. and have obviously been improved during the winter. It is interesting to recall that until the records were put up last week, the reputed fastest 3-litre car ever built was Frank Lockhart's famous super-streamlined Black Hawk Stutz, in which he was killed during an attack on the World's Land Speed Record in 1928 on Daytona Beach. It is estimated the car was travelling at well over 200 m.p.h. when it got out of control and was smashed to fragments. The Stutz engine was a 3-litre V16 (four four-cylinder Miller engines) developing 385 b.h.p. at 7,000 r.p.m. with 28 lb. supercharge and a compression ratio of 5 1/2 to 1. There were twin overhead camshafts on each bank, with two valves per cylinder. Lockhart, like the Mercedes, used two superchargers. Certainly a remarkable design 10 years ahead of its time, and in general appearance similar to Caracciola's record car. Just before Caracciola's runs, Haeberle went out in the saloon Hanomag-Diesel again, this time over the flying five kilometres and five miles—setting up the first registered compression-ignition records for these distances. His speeds were: 5 kilometres at 96.87 m.p.h. and 5 miles at 96.53 m.p.h. FAMILY LIKENESS. A strong resemblance is noticeable between Caracciola's V12 3-litre record-breaking Mercedes (top picture) which was busy last week, and the late Frank Lockhart's V16 3-litre Stutz Black Hawk of ten years ago, which did over 200 m.p.h. at Daytona Beach. B19 | ||