Goodnight, Oppo. Dream of quadruple Allison-engined monsters tonight.

Kinja'd!!! "Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
12/19/2019 at 00:26 • Filed to: None

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This is a car built by a man named Jim Lytle in the ‘60s. It was four wheel drive and powered by four Allison V12s, which made at least around 3,000 horsepower each . It was unofficially the world’s most powerful car at the time, and probably would’ve been one of the fastest too, if the owner had been able to afford clutch assemblies for it. It still exists, but the Allison engines are missing their internal components by now and it’s still missing those clutch assemblies, so we’ll probably never get to see what it would’ve been capable of. But hey, what are dreams for? If you find yourself in one of those dreams you can control, try to make this thing appear and see how fast it goes.

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DISCUSSION (14)


Kinja'd!!! MrDakka > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 01:00

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See this is the stuff I would do if I was a millionaire.


Kinja'd!!! Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 01:25

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Peak Fiat Topolino


Kinja'd!!! For Sweden > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 01:40

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Who would win?

Preserving the world’s most powerful car

American cardiologists and real estate developers that own warbirds and need engine parts


Kinja'd!!! atfsgeoff > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 01:44

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12,000 combined horsepower, that’s more than a top fuel dragster. And I bet it can run for more than 5 seconds without grenading itself too.

Really sad that it never got its day on the salt. Reminds me in that way of the Mercedes-Benz T80.


Kinja'd!!! kanadanmajava1 > atfsgeoff
12/19/2019 at 07:42

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I don’t see any radiators so it would surely overheat in a minute or two .


Kinja'd!!! Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 07:45

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I had a dream about an evil video game easter egg coming to life and secretly haunting only me. No one else ever saw it. Then I saw an escaped serial killer stalking me on a rooftop, among other things.

I blame you for posting this after midnight EST. I want to dream of twin engine monsters, not those found in outer reaches of the twilight zone. Please, think of the children, and those taking finals today.


Kinja'd!!! benn454 > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 08:18

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 12,000 HP on 1960s tire technology? Yikes.


Kinja'd!!! Jim Spanfeller > atfsgeoff
12/19/2019 at 08:40

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O, totally. The only reason it didn’t get to run was that its creator realized in the end that clutch assemblies for Allison V 12s are crazy expensive, and this thing was going to need four of them, so there was no way he could afford to complete it. Although on the bright side, this wasn’t the only Allison-powered car he built, and I know at least one of them ran and drove and was raced:

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Kinja'd!!! Jim Spanfeller > kanadanmajava1
12/19/2019 at 08:42

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I think the idea is that, much like many other vintage dragsters, it’s never running long enough to overheat, so it doesn’t need radiators. Also,  at the speeds it would theoretically be going, perhaps the rushing air would help cool it.


Kinja'd!!! Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
12/19/2019 at 08:45

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Sorry, bud. I’m on mountain time, so yeah... At least there’s another chance to dream of quadruple Allison-engined monsters tonight, right?


Kinja'd!!! Jim Spanfeller > For Sweden
12/19/2019 at 08:48

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I suppose it all depends on who owns the car. But Allison engines definitely aren’t as cheap now as they were in the sixties (and the a forementioned clutch prices certainly aren’t better), so it would cost a fortune to get the car up and running now.


Kinja'd!!! Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 10:13

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Hopefully ;)


Kinja'd!!! HammerheadFistpunch > Jim Spanfeller
12/19/2019 at 10:52

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huh, there is such a thing as too much power.


Kinja'd!!! Jim Spanfeller > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
12/19/2019 at 15:35

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Indeed, even if there’s very little Topolino left in it ;)