Parallel Universe Miata: Rodney Rucker’s Custom Bodied Supercharged V12 Packard Royal Streamliner
Remember last week when I asked if the 3-wheeled Berkeley was too weird? Yeah was nothing. This next beast makes the Berkeley seem as common as a Toyota Prius in hindsight. And instead of listing it as a make-model of car with such-&-such engine, this thing is more like an engine wrapped in some polished aluminum and brass. Find Rodney Rucker’s Custom Bodied Supercharged V-12 Packard Royal Streamliner offered here on eBay
for $1,750,000.00 buy-it-now or make-offer located in Winslow, AZ.
This is no ordinary hot rod build, and the story behind it stretches almost as far as the wheelbase, but from what you can read on the interweb this thing was designed by Chip Foose & Rodney Rucker and fabricated by Marcel’s. There is likely an episode of some terrible Chop-Cut-Rebuild-Flush style show somewhere out there, but I did find a few youtube clips of the beast.
Powering this torpedo shaped custom is a 2500 cubic inch (41 liter) Packard Royal Streamliner V12 taken out of a WWII era PT boat. The 1600 horsepower and 3,000 ft-lbs of torque is transferred through an Allison 5-speed transmission and into the rear wheels.
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Very nice, but when it comes to over-the-top creations, I'm more of a Randy Grubb guy myself.
This makes Jay's tank car look like a sub compact. Bring a warehouse…..
ooooooffff, please, no "Bring a….." on this site. I beg of you.
Standin on a corner, in Winslow Arizona,
Such an odd sight to see,
It's a girl my Lord, in what looks like Satan's own Cord,
Slowin down to fill up with BP 93.
I'll be here all week…try the veal, tip your waiter.
1st picture on the back lawn of Pasadena Art Center car show. jay Leno brought his crazy Blastolene Special these shows as well. Pretty great private gathering of car guys and cars.
A steering drag link as long as a Civic…and an engine almost as heavy as one.
I believe the marine Packards had an iron block, and were twice the weight of an aircraft engine of comparable power (e.g. the Rolls Merlin which Packard was also building at the time.)
Ah…. the Packard V-12….
This engine has an amazing lineage. A predecessor to it (the LIberty L-12) was used in a number of airplanes, including the Caproni Ca.60 (aka "Noviplano", a 9 wing airplane intended for transatlantic flight):
[img] diseno-art.com/images_6/Caproni_Ca_60_flying_boat.jpg[/img]
Back then, those Liberty L-12s put out 400 hp (!).
The Noviplano used 8 of these V-12s…
Perfect car for Donald Trump: big, bold, unique…and absolutely useless.
You know, this is probably the first time that I have ever looked at a car and thought that 22.5 rims look way to small.