THE MOTOR THAT WON THE WAR
A motor that was built to protect our freedom. Seventy-five years ago and more it had won dominance of the skies and was powering aircraft that were protecting the troops on the Normandy beaches.
It’s manufactured from aluminium alloy; has overhead cams; has 12 cylinders in a 60-degree V-formation, each with four valves; produces prodigious horsepower; and has an unmistakable sound, yet it’s not in an Italian supercar. This is the 27-litre Rolls-Royce-designed engine, and, rightly or wrongly, it is often termed ‘the motor that won the war’.
Development
Rolls-Royce had already made its mark in the aero-engine world with a V12 that had powered various aircraft to various records, but, by 1933, it wanted to build something more powerful for what it perceived as a market that was bound to grow in the near future. Germany was rearming, and there was a need to at
