What It's Like To Drive The One-Off 27-Liter V12-Powered 'Beast'

When they hear the name, “The Beast,” most Americans tend to think of the massive limousine the Secret Service drives the President around in. Considering how close it is to being completely indestructible and how small Jay Leno looks next to it, the presidential limo certainly earns its nickname. In our hearts, though, the real Beast is a bit more obscure — a custom one-off created by engineer John Dodd and powered by a V12 taken from a Spitfire fighter plane.

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Yes, you read that correctly. Under the hood, Dodd’s creation uses a 27-liter V12 that makes more than 700 horsepower. Actual power figures aren’t available because as far as we can tell, it’s never been put on a dyno, but still. Just think about how absurd that kind of power would have been back in the early 1970s. Even by modern standards, that’s a lot, but back in 1972? You would have had to be absolutely unhinged to ever drive The Beast, and we mean that in the most complimentary way possible.

Recently, our friends over at Throttle House got the chance to check out The Beast, and as you’ll see in the video below, it looks a bit different than you may remember. Apparently, following a recent sale, the new owner gave it a few updates along with some new paint and a reupholstered interior. They even added a Rolls-Royce grille, which we can’t imagine makes the suits in Goodwood happy.

If anything, give the video a watch just to see the absolutely absurd startup procedure. At about the ten-minute mark, they break out a laminated instruction sheet, so you know things are about to get good, and we promise the Beast doesn’t disappoint. Depending on how you want to count things, getting the engine started takes about 10 steps, and even then, after doing everything right, they had to bring in the owner to actually get the car started.

Eventually, though, they do get to take it for a drive, which ends up being an adventure in its own right. If you like obscure and weird, you’re definitely not going to regret spending a few minutes watching this one.

We Drove The Beast // A 27-Liter V12 Spitfire-Powered Monster