Supermarine Spitfire several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire that served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW). As a result, the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved over the course of its
Rolls-Royce V8 engine later taken back by the factory and scrapped. The other two were used for factory transport or display purposes. Rolls ordered three more chassis for delivery in 1906 but there is no evidence these were ever made. No example of a 1905 V-8 car or engine is known to survive. Although the 1905 V-8 cannot be judged a success, lessons learned from the engine were used in subsequent Rolls-Royce engine designs. Having used straight six, straight eight and V-12 engines in the interim period, the need for another new engine was recognised in the early 1950s. Development of a totally