THE ICONIC LYCOMING AN ENDURING KIWI SPECIAL
From the moment you saw the silver Lycoming Special in the paddock, on the entry list of a North Island hill climb, at a car club grass track, or at sprint speed events, you knew that the result was a fait accompli. While predictable but never boring, the late Jim Boyd’s skilful and often spectacular handling of this ingenious New Zealand creation would inevitably result in fastest time of day.
Fabulous and memorable
In 1972, Boyd described the Lycoming as fabulous and his most memorable car. Boyd’s four-year ownership began in 1963, yet this was a story that began in the early ’50s, when talented Auckland engineer Ralph Watson came up with the idea of designing a front-engined Special around a 290-cubic-inch, or 4733cc, flat-four Lycoming aircraft engine — a power unit described by Watson as sounding like “a team of panel beaters working in rhythm”.
This was a car that would chalk up a remarkable competition career, including two national sports car titles, three New Zealand hill-climb championships, and three Ken Wharton Memorial trophies.
On a dusty, windy February day in 1965, Boyd came home a surprise winner of
