Rolls-Royce Merlin alternative uses Rolls-Royce Merlin alternative uses The Rolls-Royce Merlin, although designed as an aero engine, was used in other applications both on land and at sea. A derivative called the Meteor was developed for use in tanks. Michael Wilcock of Sussex, England, built the "Swandean Spitfire Special", using a Merlin XXV engine acquired from a scrap yard for one hundred and forty pounds. The engine was installed in a home-brewed chassis confected from two Daimler Dingo scout car chassis. The car was run in the Brighton Speed Trials in 1953, and was sold to James Duffy of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1956.
Rolls-Royce Crecy the Ricardo E65 engine achieved the equivalent of for the complete engine. By June 1945 a total of 1,060 hours had been run on the V12 engines with a further 8,600 hours of testing on the V-twins. The fate of the six Crecy engines remains unknown. The Crecy proved a unique exercise and Rolls-Royce did not develop any other two-stroke aero engines, the whole concept of advanced piston engines at that time being overtaken by the advent of the practical jet engine. In the Summer of 1941 Supermarine Spitfire Mk II "P7674" was delivered to Hucknall and fitted with a