Rolls-Royce Merlin prey, Rolls-Royce named the engine the "Merlin" after a small, Northern Hemisphere falcon ("Falco columbarius"). Two more Rolls-Royce engines developed just prior to the war were added to the company's range. The Rolls-Royce Peregrine was an updated, supercharged development of their V-12 Kestrel design, while the 42-litre (2,560 cu in) Rolls-Royce Vulture used four Kestrel-sized cylinder blocks fitted to a single crankcase and driving a common crankshaft, forming an X-24 layout. This was to be used in larger aircraft such as the Avro Manchester. Although the Peregrine appeared to be a satisfactory design, it was never allowed to mature since
Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine Flying Spur and Continental models. The first engine of V8 configuration was developed in 1904 by the Marmon Motor Car Company in the United States. It was experimental, however, and did not find its way into a passenger vehicle. Rolls-Royce premiered the world's second V8 engine in 1905 for their Rolls-Royce V-8 Legalimit – governed not to exceed the legal speed limit in Britain at the time of . It was not a success, with only three made and just one sold, which was soon returned to the factory to be scrapped. It was another decade before Cadillac pioneered a