The Beast

John Dobb is standing to the left of The Beast

In my last post I mention a cardboard box which had followed me around for over 40 years and in it I found slides of "The Beast" built by a brilliant and true English eccentric (Brit to my New York friends) John Dobb whom to this day still has his foot on the throttle. As you can see back in 1973 it created a lot of local interest outside the engineering company were I worked. That day I snapped over 20 pictures of the Beast.

Newspaper headline proclaiming "Roll-Royce's 200mph supercar

The Beast engine was a 27-litre Rolls-Royce Merlin, see links for more details. was featured on TV and in newspapers at the time and to this day, including Hot Car magazine in 1973. It wasn't just for looks though; that Meteor still had 700bhp and 700lb/ft of torque even without a blower, and earned an RAC-certified speed record at RAF Elvington airfield for the flying half-mile, along with inclusion in The Guinness Book of World Records as 'The most powerful road car in the world' at the time. John Dobb confirmed the rumor to me that his car was gaining notoriety for its speed on public roads; endorsing a newspaper headline proclaiming "Roll-Royce's 200mph supercar" probably helped bring the car to the attention of Rolls-Royce, who predictably weren't amused when an existing German Roll-Royce customer contacted them about ordering a Roll-Royce car that "outrun" him  (the German) on the Autobahn at over 150mph while driving his Porsche. Roll-Royce threatened court action against John Dobb for breach of copyright for using of the Greek temple grill on The Beast. Love the story!

My reflection in the RR grill its the only time you will see me.

 Read more on the following links. Roll-Royce Car Company, RAF Elvington Airfield, Facebook John Dobb, The Guinness Book of World Records, Porsche, CLASSIC DRIVER.

 The following pictures speak for themselves

 

 

Michael S. McConkey

Michael McConkey (circa 1972) sitting on a Triton motorcycle (a hybrid-like bike constructed with a Norton Featherbed frame) which was considered the best in its day. With an Triumph Thunderbird 650cc engine, this motorcycle unfortunately did not have the famous 'Bonneville engine' What a shame! Check out my post; My British Motorcycle Days.