This is a supercharged 37 liter Rolls-Royce Griffon V12 engine, it was originally developed by Rolls-Royce for high-performance aircraft, and in some respects it was the successor to the mighty Merlin V12.
Design work on the Griffon started in 1938 and the first running prototype was operational in late 1939. The Griffon wouldn’t see mass production until the early 1940s, it proved possible to fit the engine to a modified Supermarine Spitfire, giving it a significant power boost thanks to the extra 10 litres of capacity and the more advanced engineering that went into the engine.
Above Video: This is a clip of a Rolls-Royce Griffon V12 being fired up and run on a test stand. It gives you a good idea what it sounds like, and the host discusses the history of the Griffon and of the engine shown in this video.
Despite the 36% increase in swept capacity compared to the Merlin V12, the Griffon is only slightly larger. Many of the hard lessons learned during Merlin engine development were rolled into the Griffon and it’s a better engine as a result.
Rolls-Royce would keep the Griffon in production until 1955 and it was fitted to a wide range of aircraft including later versions of the Spitfire, the Avro Shackleton, the Bristol Beaufighter, the Supermarine Spiteful, the Supermarine Seafire, the Fairey Firefly, the Blackburn B-54, and many others.
Rolls-Royce Griffon is a 60º V12 with an alloy block and heads, it has a single overhead cam per bank operating two valves per cylinder. The Griffon was offered in a wide array of versions to meet a wide variety of needs, from bombers and patrol aircraft to the final iterations of the Spitfire.
In modern times the Griffon is a popular engine choice in the competitive world of tractor pulling and aircraft racing, where modifications can see them producing well over 3,500 hp. The Griffon remained in military service from 1949 until 1991, a remarkable 42 year life span, and the engines that have survived are now highly sought after.
The Griffon also became popular for use in racing aircraft, tractor pulling competition, and boat racing – all despite the high costs to buy and maintain them. The sound of a supercharged 37 liter V12 is something that people never forget one they hear it, whether it’s in a warbird, a tractor, a boat or something else altogether.
The Rolls-Royce Griffon V12 Shown Here
The engine you see here is a Rolls-Royce Griffon V12, specifically it’s a Type 74 version of the engine. The Type 74 was developed for the Fairey Firefly Mk IV, a Second World War aircraft carrier-based aircraft often used in anti-submarine and anti-Uboat roles.
When running the engine would be good for approximately 2,245 bhp, possibly more, with some versions of the engine producing 2,420+ bhp.
The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a 37 liter V12 engine with an alloy block and heads, a single overhead cam per bank, four valves per cylinder, and a two-stage supercharger. Production versions could produce close to 2,500 bhp and aftermarket modified examples can make far more than that.
This specific engine was modified in the 1980s for use in the famous Miss Budweiser racing hydroplane, it was built as a spare incase anything happened to the main race engine, though it was never needed. As a result, it has remained on its rolling display stand.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Carnelian Bay, California on Bring a Trailer with a bill of sale. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
