An Italian, French, American pie

I am building a Prewar land speed racer like Napier Railton, Brutus, Babs, etc.

I bought an Isotta-Fraschini V12 Aircraft Engine (Air cooled) in January this year. The engine is supercharged twin cam from 1938 and the characteristics are 27 litres and 750 HP.

I decided to build the land speed racer with old prewar components and it will be a mix of components from various manufacturers. The main components will be from Italy, France and America.

The question I have to ask myself with this project is: Can an Italian, French and American really work well together and stand each other over a long period of time? I know they have done it in the past, but can they still do it? The biggest challenge is to handle the Italian temperament of 750hp and the attitude from 27litres torque. If I use the French charm and intellect (Delage DI chassis, dashboard, steering column and pedals) and the American straight forward attitude and robustness (Ford 40´s truck gearbox and rear axle), then I might manage and control the Italian temperament.

What happens right now? The engine is disassembled and re-assembled. The chassis is in good shape, but needs to be boxed and modified in order to fit the engine and stand the torque. The body work is in the final stage, but there is lots of work and challenges to finalize the project. If we can put a man on the moon, then I am sure I can finalize this project by next summer.

Does anyone have experience of a similar project and some good advice to share.

Isotta Fraschini Project November.pdf

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