![]() Steel cylinder liners provide durable wear surfaces. Designed by Marc Birkigt, the Swiss-born genius who founded the company, the 18.5-liter, 300-horsepower V-8 is constructed with a pair of assemblies consisting of four cylinders and one head integrated into a single aluminum casting. Leno and his team restored the Hispano Suiza to its original glory with parts from a period bus and garbage truck.Įxperimenting with the best technology at its disposal, Spanish car and aircraft-engine manufacturer Hispano Suiza combined a 1915 chassis with its 8F aero engine, successor to the first V-8 (8A) to attack the sky. In 1915, the Spanish company Hispano Suiza combined a car chassis with the V-8 it produced to power many Allied aircraft in World War I. Leno neatly sums up his passion for aircraft engines: “There’s no such thing as too much power or torque.” He also reveres the Greatest Generation pilots who fought in a war by throttling engines similar to those in the cars he now drives.Īnd while Leno’s collection isn’t the world’s largest, his seven aircraft-powered vehicles distinguish it as something special. And since the power required for flight rises in direct proportion to weight, aircraft engine builders innovated the use of lighter aluminum, magnesium, and alloy-steel materials. Dual-ignition systems made these engines less likely to break down in flight. In pursuit of sufficient power, aviation engine manufacturers routinely combined colossal piston displacements with advanced design features that would improve volumetric efficiency (breathing)-overhead camshafts, four instead of two valves per cylinder, and supercharging-because they weren’t constrained by cost concerns. A hangar near Leno’s complex was once occupied by Amelia Earhart.Īircraft and automobiles came of age together-so it was inevitable that truly serious auto designers began bolting aircraft engines under their hoods. ![]() An airport to the north is where the 18-year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty-later Marilyn Monroe-was discovered by an Army photographer assembling Radioplane drone aircraft. ![]() A few miles to the south is where Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works created the Lockheed Shooting Star, America’s first jet fighter. Given that Leno’s garage in Burbank, California, was once an aviation technology hot spot, those engines are in a suitable environment. Jay Leno’s stash of 199 cars and 168 motorcycles includes machines run by steam and by electric motors, but he has special affection for vehicles powered by aircraft engines. ![]()
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