The Merlin V-12 was as bad ass an engine as there ever was in WWII. This Rolls Royce designed beast powered all kinds of kick ass airplanes and was needed in such volume that other companies licensed the design and cranked them out. Famously in the USA Packard was one of those companies and they made a variant of the Merlin (among many others) known as the 29. This engine made 1,300hp at 3,000 RPM at sea level and then with the hammer down and the blower making 9psi of boost at 13,000ft it made 1,240hp at the same 3,000hp.
In this video we see the engine running on the dyno and then being worked at cruising RPM so not at its 3,000 RPM peak power spot. Even still, the torque that this monster makes is awesome and the sound is really cool as well. We we continue to creep further and further away from WWII by the seconds, hours, and days, it is amazing that there are still craftsmen on this planet that can rebuild these machines and do it in a way that would make the wrenchers of the period proud.
The sound and the fury of this important engine that had planes like the Curtiss P-40F up the enemy’s keister is awesome.
