Darracq "200" fires up for first time in 97 years

The Darracq V8 land speed record breaker engine has been fired up for the first time in 97 years. The last time it ran was in June 1909 when Algenon Lee Guinness took a British and European record. The engine was subsequently found to have a cracked piston, and was retired.
Lortim Consultants
50 years of patience and restoration: Gerald Firkins

[@justforever96]

I found a 1916 copy of "How to Repair Automobiles" (or something like that). in my grandfathers collection. Fascinating to read; all the stuff the auto owner had to know how to do back then! Cleaning the soot out of the cylinders every so often, welding the cylinder walls when they split(!), all kinds of stuff. And it has cutaway drawings of all the major engine makes, and technical details. How to deal with suspension and frame, bodywork, etc. It's even got a chapter in the beginning on how to start a garage, where to put the benches and tools and closets, what tools you need and how to use them. It was like a mail-order course in how to start your own auto repair shop! Coolest book. I'm going to have to see if I can't dig that sucker up.

[@Second.Nature.Lawn.Michigan]

People were a bit tougher back then I believe

[@rexfield8164]

This had to be utterly amazing for those times.

[@heliarche]

I think if all cars were made this way, motorists would be MUCH more aware of other drivers around them and probably a lot more courteous as well! That old bare bones beastie must be a joy and a nightmare to drive at the same time!

[@gungunggadung6792]

Loud pipes save lives!

[@cheath8705]

@@gungunggadung6792 - B U L L ! !

[@cheath8705]

You failed to take into account if EVERY car are loud, you will not be able to tell who is coming since every car's racket is EVERYWHERE!!

[@gungunggadung6792]

@@cheath8705 Really.

[@cheath8705]

@@gungunggadung6792 - Yes, really. Loud pipes are EGO boosters, not life savers. Seen enough percentage of bikers with loud pipes having their heads blowing up!

[@I967]

BRUTAL. Imagine driving this at 100 mph. Now imagine the size of the balls of steel the guy driving it must have.

[@randymcgrew7636]

Fun to see where we came from

[@brandon-yd3xs]

OMG the frame twist when it started up crazy! That things cool

[@Kilen81]

Yea! a wee bit undersized for that hog lol

[@randyklug615]

So glad people care, keep history ALIVE 😎

[@rogerbranton1752]

What a beautiful old monster!

[@justinmyslive4108]

granddaddy of the muscle car

[@retro440]

Holy crap! Twin carbs, overhead valves - it was way ahead of it's time!

[@shaungalloway5035]

Sounds very familiar to a modern day top fuel dragster, which I think it would have been the equivalent to, relative to the time, 97 years ago.

[@justforever96]

+Shaun Galloway Not really. Top Fuel dragsters sound the way they do because they run on nitromethane. They call it "cackling". This is just big old gasoline V8 with open exhausts. Both of them are V8's, so they will sound similar at idle (except the "crackle" of the nitro), but it's when you hit the gas you'll hear the difference. This thing probably redlines at 3,000rpm, maybe less, where a Top Fuel engine can do like 16,000rpm or something dumb like that.

[@enhancesoutheast5964]

Love the starter, engine belches, farts, coughs, shudders and bangs into life... Starter falls to pieces to celebrate..

[@chriskappert1365]

Magic to see the valves opperated , this 200 BHP engine must produce some serious torque when you concidder the low rpm of about 1500 ! Most modernday cars still don't produce 200 BHP at 6000 rpm ........ Just smashing !

[@mikesmith4468]

Sounds nice.

[@mow4ncry]

That would be a hot item at the SEMA SHOW in Vegas its the 1st week on November.

[@ianwoollard2063]

Geez the last time I saw something with that much smoke coming off it,it was on fire 🔥. Looks like a fairly powerful engine though

[@edwardelliott5756]

What a monster.

[@oliveringram3056]

Love to hear it running on all 8 cylinders. 3rd exhaust pipe back was not getting hot at all.

[@Squarerig]

Observing that you a re using an external source for starting how was this monster started back in 1909?Wonderful pictures;I can almost smell the burning castor oil!

[@JW0149]

Started by hand crank. Now that carbs are sorted, it can indeed be started by hand, as indeed it was in the day. See KZbin of Mark Walker doing just that in 2014, search on "Walker Darracq" for several videos of this wonderful car. See it if you can in 2015.

[@captainfancypants4933]

what a beautiful effing engine.

[@dougslittlediesel]

That's why in the early days of racing you had q driver and mechanic to make adjustments whilst the car was racing .

[@alessiocapitani9943]

Stunning Gorgeous Car! The Gran Mother of Alfa Romeo....

[@ddkoda]

Overhead valves for 1909. Pretty amazing especially when one considers the fact that Ford didn't switch to overhead valving until 1954. Perhaps the only in block valved engines of our day are lawn mower engines and other single digit horsepower models.

[@phlodel]

Racing engines had overhead valves early on. There were dual overhead cam engines with 4 valves per cylinder before 1920.

[@justinmyslive4108]

ddkoda wonder what took Ford so long to go with ohv in thier V8's. Chevy had ohv in thier straight 6's in the 30's. back then Chevy's straight 6 was competitive with the flathead Ford V8. then in 54 Ford developed thier ohv V8. the following year Chevy developed thier 265 V8 which was an ohv since then the Ford/Chevy rivalry goes on

[@markk3652]

Ohv in a v configured engine was both frail and complicated prior to the 50's. The flathead originated in 1932, was in production til 1953. It was updated and improved along the way, but was cutting edge for it's time. Simple, reliable, and easy to mod.

[@au1317]

This engine is as old to us today as the high-pressure steam engine was when this came out

[@Gohot229]

Boy the in-laws could sure tell if you were coming for a visit.

[@randymcgrew7636]

Could you imagine driving in that and smelling the smoke

[@richardsledgecock2110]

Ole grandaddy knew how mean ass ole engine!!!!!

[@johnmalz6684]

Got to find and old darracq mechanic for this one.

[@TheLobstersoup]

interesting! And it provides additional smoke screen. This might have burned live dinosaur for fuel, back in the days.

[@wippy748s]

still has the cracked piston by the look of it

[@Marcuslalonde]

Works a lot better now that y'all are spinning the engine the right way - - unlike the first attempt lol. Awesome engine!

[@barryphillips7327]

Pretty impressive machine considering it,s age

[@gentleman7407]

The common ancestor for, "Hot Rod," defined. Maybe not, but damn!

[@robertdavis6708]

I say get Al Gore to EPA OK this unit. For enough money, he'd say it wasn't smoking.

[@ryanehlis426]

Overhead valves!? wow did not know they had been invented in 1909. that is cool.

[@glynluff2595]

Relative to the SU carbs and their size one has to remember such an engine revved slowly by today’s standards and therefore the cfm of air consumed would be relatively low. The aim would be to provide a ratio of 14:1 air fuel when flat out so those Skinners Union units may not be as undersized as might appear. As for oil smoke remember the water cooling system is not connected so their might well be some ucl to aid initial running lubrication.

[@randymcgrew7636]

Lots of cool comments on this one way to go guys

[@franmcmullen2115]

What do they have the Darracq belted-up to to turn-it over ?

[@Jester123ish]

Why not make this part of the first video, that one had no payoff and this one has no build up?

[@justforever96]

+Jester123ish Good point.

[@Tubbs-dad]

Seeing that the engine is not rusted and oily , I would have to surmise that the engine was rebuilt. It's not like it's been sitting for 97 years and they tried to start it.

[@JW0149]

Complete rebuild, took me a year to get this far. Didnt even try the 1905 carbs, used SU instead just to get it running.

[@oirog69]

ang galing . ayoossss

[@ricksmerecki7305]

Man, I wish I could stand there next to it while it's running and would love to feel the vibration and just smell the awesome burning oil. Now that's a man's smell you could smell all day!!

[@JW0149]

And at this stage I was running it on Castrol R for the full effect.

[@LeDibeau]

An engine and wheels - what the hell else do you need?

[@MichiMotorFreak]

wonderfull

[@JW0149]

you can read more about this unique car at www.villiers.info/Darracq/ and search for "Darracq v8" to find video of it running at VSCC events

[@InTheDogHouse3DPrinting]

Was that right rear cylinder burning the oil out of it, or is there a piston ring leak? The rest of the cylinders looked pretty good, but that one sure seemed to smoke a lot.

[@andrewporter4636]

There's a bit of steam coming from the actual power source, a two cylinder Stanley Steamer engine hidden under the V-8 !

[@tonkingulfyachtclub8111]

I think they're running it a tad rich.

[@mariozermeno2649]

Ultimate rat rod motor

[@jeffburdess2237]

Is it just air cooled?

[@fezants]

Not sure if those SU's 'will provide enough cfm for that monster engine ?

[@JW0149]

Good enough to run up to 800 rpm, and original 1905 carbs needed too much work. Current owner has added a slow running jet to originals, now it starts with hand crank, quite a feat IMHO. SU carbs only used for early tests.

[@Bumbaclot213]

Is this ULEZ compliant?

[@1ginner1]

Bit of a bulky starter motor, did it run alongside during the land speed record.lol

[@SpiritsoftheWolf]

at the end, a shitload of blowby thru the breather indicates engine trouble.... wow

[@metaxa715]

Darracq story suppose to be longer

[@mschiffel1]

Where's the radiator??

[@dorinp007]

Is it a flatplane?

[@Concheric2001]

what is that engine's displacement? My guess is 14 liters.

[@JW0149]

It is a full 25 litres, the first working V8 in the world I think, but not a production motor since it was a one-off.

[@seapeddler]

Where's the bottle ?

[@artlife6210]

Smelly noisy and totally awesome all at once

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

I can't even imagine setting a land speed record with this pissed off contraption & I think it went something like 100mph! I also think the 1-3/4" SU's might be a touch small for it!! :)

[@brb0713]

Awesome , give us some specs on it

[@JW0149]

You can read much more about it at www.villiers.info/Darracq/

[@sergesmith2863]

Cool as hell looking but looks like a death trap too!!

[@Rocketninja200]

+Serge Smith Its funny though, because today's cars will be regarded in the same way one day. "OMG that thing from 2015 has flammable liquids in it. What a death trap!" lol

[@sergesmith2863]

Rocketninja200 LOL!

[@Rocketninja200]

Hermin Gast Yes! We should go back to the good ole days of donkeys and scurvy.

[@Rocketninja200]

lol My hair is still blowing back from it. lol Mistakes...

[@doceigen]

hehe ...not used to seeing an all external mechanical linkage.

[@MaxArg1988]

my girlfriends lastname is Darracq, she claims her great grandfather made those cars.

[@MerpSquirrel]

Tend to believe you because this is already an odd video to stumble on. And that is not a very common name.

[@internetuser4815]

this is what all cars should be like lol

[@grettagrids]

did you replace the cracked piston? or fix it?

[@JW0149]

All 8 pistons were replaced with a set that the 1970's owner had manufactured, they were barely OK for serious use, which the new owner wanted. They were replaced again together with new conrods (I think) to be how you might see it now if you went to a British VSCC event

[@grettagrids]

JW0149 still this car is the envy of all my old car,tractor and engine collector freinds. be cool to see it in person :)

[@ryotaryuu]

what originally did this engine come in? what vehicle?

[@ryotaryuu]

nvm. I read the article. so this was a one off?

[@carlthornton8706]

Great!... 218 🐄🦉🏴‍☠✝

[@grahammitchell6435]

Mmmm.Sounds like a Volkswagon ! Pre emissions.?

[@georgejordan9516]

+Graham Mitchell lolol

[@ebutuoy8272]

Is the 200 in Darracq "200" stand for it doing 200 mph for the LSR?

[@philtripe]

no the 200 is for its amazing 200 hp in an era of engines that put out 2 hp

[@wildcoyote34]

yes it was amazing , considering most automobiles had 2-4 cylinder engines in 1909 ,, the model T ford had a 2.9 liter/177CI 4 cylinder engine and made 18-20hp

[@jaxv94]

I'ts Alive!

[@doceigen]

Oh, and I think you had to preheat the oil.

[@Rezqewr]

S.U. carburettors?

[@HolzMichel]

pretty kooollll watching that old engine start up :) hope you don't have to do some of the goofy emissions crap like the owner of "chitty chitty bang bang" had to do that car in order to be able to operate it on british streets.. nice job, hope you have many more years of pleasure with it

[@JW0149]

No Health and Safety applies to this baby. No silencers, no front brakes, no bodywork, and fully road legal. Gets driven to VSCC meetings in UK on public roads. I rebuilt it to prepare it for Bonhams auction, and it has an enthusiastic new owner.

[@HolzMichel]

JW0149 :) wayy koolllll..hope to see it live someday

[@gordonjcp]

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica only needed emissions control gear because it was based on a donor car modern enough to require them. Had it actually been based on something early enough it would be pretty much exempt from emissions testing.

[@EragonSuperM]

How big is this engine cubic inch wise?

[@EragonSuperM]

***** That's huge. Holy shit imagine the torque on that thing.

[@EragonSuperM]

***** I just read an article that said it had an estimated 300 bhp and 1000 lb/ft of torque

[@bababooey7576]

EragonSuperM That's insane!

[@ryanjames170]

a real BIG BLOCK lol

[@EragonSuperM]

ryanjames170 Ha. True. Massive block

[@Hyperion62]

but will it pass emissions?

[@BarnacleBrown]

Hyperion too bad there is emissions where you live.

[@Hyperion62]

***** All gas cars produce emissions, although its a pain to get an old vehicle approved I agree with emissions testing, This is our planet and since we havent cultivated any other planets, it would sure suck if we ruined it.

[@BarnacleBrown]

Hyperion LOL am i an idiot? obviously i meant emissions testing. I agree, we are ruining the environment much faster than it can recover and it is from burning fuel sources. The only viable resource is the sun. But our generations have grown to love the roar of a 429 and it will most likely never stop. it will be our demise.

[@Hyperion62]

***** Lol, sorry i meant that in jest, I was fairly sure you were a capable human being, that being said, because of our inability to properly utilize the sun (especially in areas with little sun light), our best and cleanest course of action is nuclear power, so long as we dont spill any liquid death (nuclear waste). it would be nice if they would invent a liquid battery were the discharged liquid could be replaced with charged liquid in a mater of minutes at any gas station (and then the discharged liquid could be charged long after the car already left). why bother with a rechargeable battery when they can be recycled and you can replace them with fresh batteries with zero down time

[@BarnacleBrown]

I dont think anything that has a dangerous byproduct is a good idea. but nuclear does provide a lot of power as it is an artificial star... I dont only mean solar to heat lamps or convert as plants do. we could harness microwave energy or even thermal energy if we put more time and money into those areas. We need to learn to get energy from the things we have an excess of. and we do and will continue to have a growing excess of heat and sun energy. (especially if we keep destroying our atmosphere like we are now)

[@frankbox850]

SU Carbs ?

[@bliz2912]

By the looks of the smoke ...it's wore out

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

Firing that rascal up is an art form. It like cojoling your mistress.

[@youturd8794]

*VW's emissions blueprint*

[@heavydiesel]

Fran McMullen looks like its an old tractor pto they are using.

[@JW0149]

at 25 litres it needed some power to turn it over since magneto was slipping on shaft, had to guess carburation and ignition. My 9HP Honda engine with Gokart wheel to turn Darracq flywheel didnt really do it. Local tractor pressed into service. We were on the edge of H&S I think, OK on the day though.

[@Auvoelias]

where is the radiator?

[@JW0149]

Not fitted. It is a non-pressurised system containing over 60 litres of water. For the start up shown in the video, we just ran it until the water boiled and then stopped. As with the reader who commented on the smoke/steam, water boiling is not that hot for an engine, half the temperature of an air cooled 2stroke, so I was quite happy with the procedure that we followed. With the magneto repeatedly slipping, it was a difficulty session anyway

[@JW0149]

There is an article on this car December 2014 at theoldmotor.com/?p=134988 some nice photos

[@exilfromsanity]

+JW0149 Thank you. I went there and read the article, very informative and interesting.

[@luciankristov6436]

That's an awesome old school turd. I bet it's fun to drive. Cough my entire house smells like a lawn mower now

[@IsmaelRavenlock]

OH NAAH MAN WE DONT NEED ENGIN MOUNTS LETS JUST HOLD THE MOTOR IN PLACE WITH A TOW STRAP great idea

[@FletcherElectronics]

You mean the copper cooling line over the engine?

[@jackfrost2146]

Ismael Ravenlock The "tow strap' is actually a belt running around a pulley which is either on an electric motor or an engine which is being used as a starter motor,

[@MichaelCharlesbradfo]

+Jack Frost on pto on the tractor

[@modzillaamps1840]

Why was Goerge W. Bush helping you start it?

[@dougrundell947]

It sure wants to run. Maybe if a large chested girl was manning the throttle...

[@kingofassholes2619]

Are those SU Carbs?

[@JW0149]

kingo fassholes I am afraid so, too much to do to get it running, so I needed some base line. The current owner is running the correct carbs, but they are SOOOOO crude that they needed months of work to get them running (only main jet, no idle or intermediate)

[@kingofassholes2619]

I've dealt with them. My '73 MG Midget had two. They worked. My '69 Austin America/1100/1300 Bored to 1430cc with 1.25 Intake and 1.44 exhaust and race Cam didn't like the SU's. I went wit a progressive 2bbl Nikki, Aluminum Intake, Tuned Header, 2 1/2 Dead Straight exhaust to a Thrush Single Inlet, Duel Outlet Muffler. Yeah... Muffler. It made so much power the Key (Flywheel To Crank) would constantly shear off. That was, until the car was stolen.

[@darkgreenambulance]

+JW0149 Forgive me, but there is nothing crude about SUs! They may consist of relatively few parts but crude - no. By the way - I didn't see - was the water just circulating round some piping?

[@kingofassholes2619]

I've had three cars with SUs. One had Duels. I had to switch over to a Progressive Two bbl. Carb. on another. The SU wasn't enough for the HP. If I had chosen a Weber, I would've had to cut into the Firewall. No one made Kits for TBI back then to fit my application. The "Nikki" Progressive two bbl. was the best way to go at that time. It gave that 1430cc much better Throttle response and when the Secondary kicked in, she flew.

[@JW0149]

+Bev Wood No water, yes, that's right. The cylinder pots have many litres each so we could easily run it for several mins until it boiled. The full system is unpressurised and contains over 60 litres of water, more than a bath full! search youtube for "walker darracq" to see it in action since 2008.

[@Johnny64ism]

major Oil Burner

[@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002]

so did no one notice that it was overheating?i know there as smoke coming from the exhaust, but it was also just coming off the engine as well...

[@JW0149]

No. not overheating. Smoke in exhaust is from sump full, right hand bank smoke much more than left due to the direction of splash of conrods dipping in to sump oil, that is how it was in the day too. I probably overfilled the sump to be safe since oiling the engine with no pressure on a brand new engine gave concern.

[@jimmyj2563]

EATSLEEPDRIVE2002 Every single engine I have fitted in my 35 years as a mechanic/ hotrod guy has smoked a bit initially.. oil from assembly and handling manifolds etc. But agreed that oil control probably isn’t great given the technology of the day.

[@Jerkwad152]

You can make a lot of money with a mosquito-killing service. :3

[@dontmindme8312]

No cooling system? It's a shame to overheat it...

[@JW0149]

Cooling not fitted here, just ran it until the water boiled in the block. The final system has 60 litres and no fan, just have to keep moving I guess.

[@SLF496x]

Bad head gasket?

[@JW0149]

no head gasket, in fact no heads - as barrel and head are one casting

[@mrspenn1611]

hmmm.... good old SU Carbs ..... Skinners Units

[@Johnny64ism]

with no coolant the engine gonna overheat

[@ericjohnson8482]

I have pictures of Chevrolet driving this car.

[@davidmotoman4956]

Proberly be a little better with a Radiator, for the amount of time they ran it :)

[@pjay9518]

good luck trying to get that thing to idle haha

[@vroum68]

YES GRAN ' MA IS WAKED UP !!! LET'S GO

[@richardsledgecock2110]

Tune it up and I bet it would come out of the hole like a bat out of hell!!!!

[@Nadinchen75]

Ich würde mal zuerst die Dekompressionsventile schliesen !!