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Beaulieu Bluebird



When you spend three days at the annual Beaulieu Autojumble,the three fields are mostly filled with men and their beloved motoring stuff. So it was a refreshing surprise to come across Jackie sitting in the Napier-Campbell Bluebird Special which had only recently emerged from the workshop of Lord Lorne Jacobs.

Jackie is no stranger to big cars with big engines because her friend Mike Vardy owns this Isotta-Fraschini-Fiat whose engine is a mere 16½ litres compared with the Napier Campbell’s 22.3 litres from its (earliest known) Sea Lion W12 cylinder engine. I had recently photographed the Napier-Campbell elsewhere, but these pictures were more fun as can be seen as Jackie climbed out of her new favourite car.

(Text and photographs Robin Batchelor)

Publié:
jeudi septembre 11th, 2014
Robin Batchelor
13 Septembre 2014, 09:35
[quote name="Peter Cole"]So, the Napier engine in this car is a Lion or a Sea Lion? I thought the latter was a variant specifically for marine application.[/quote]
Peter - it is a Sea Lion which as you know was originally adapted for marine use. The builder employs different cam profiles for road use. Marine and aviation cams are designed for constant revs.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3921/15036525580_c30d5a6a02_b.jpg
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Inconnu
12 Septembre 2014, 20:33
So, the Napier engine in this car is a Lion or a Sea Lion? I thought the latter was a variant specifically for marine application.
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Inconnu
12 Septembre 2014, 12:46
I think Motor Sport occasionally needed to print a few paragraphs entitled 'Oh Dear', where they corrected errors.
We always welcome corrections and today we thank Michael Ware for his reminder that Sir Malcolm Campbell did indeed call his cars 'Blue Bird', and S. Tyler is correct with his nomenclature of 'Broad Arrow' describing the Napier Sea Lion engine's 12 cylinders which all shared a single crankshaft.
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Inconnu
12 Septembre 2014, 09:12
W12? I was under the impression it was 3 banks of 4 cyinders on one common crank, making it a "broad arrow 12". A W12 uses 2 cranks. Sorry for being a anorak!
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Inconnu
12 Septembre 2014, 09:03
I always thought that Malcolm Campbell r=called his cars as Blue Bird whilst Donald referred to his as Bluebird.
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Inconnu
12 Septembre 2014, 01:00
Bluebird ?...or is it Blue Bird ?
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william hearne
12 Septembre 2014, 00:44
Great images Robin. I spent the Friday at Beaulieu and must confess that I only took photographs of this car which [I think] is a real credit to the owner.
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