For those of you who may not have gotten today’s Name That Engine, it’s from the Arno XI Hydroplane (1/8 scale kit shown above). That 800kg class three point hydroplane was built by Cantieri Timossi and was powered by a type 375 Ferrari Formula One engine. That 4493.7-cc twelve featured twin superchargers, pulling through a pair of 4-bbl Webers, and featured dual plug (24!) ignition. The methonal-burning engine produced between 550 and 600 bhp and pushed the boat to a record setting 140.74 mph.
Read more about the Arno XI here.
Image sources: [scaleautoworks.com]
Last Call- Water Sports Edition
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It can't be the Lampredi. The site says it was a 3.0.
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I just read the story behind this lovely beast. Man, that must have been some sights and sounds, this racing across Lake Como. My drunken Army buddies and I almost sank a rented speedboat on Lake Garda once, and it was Italian, but much slower and I'm pretty sure the engine had nothing to do with Ferrari. Like in the article, the owner came out to us in another boat. Judging from the Italian he was speaking and the gesturing, he definitely wasn't congratulating us.
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The modern hydroplane races come to Lake Washington with their jet engines each year. There only a few piston-powered hydros left but I get really excited when somebody fires one up. The noise is glorious. Clarkson would say, "It sounds like God gargling wasps and gravel after being kicked in the balls." I imagine this Arno XI sounds the same but a much more Italian accent.
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